Medical research exhibit’s tour starts in Indianapolis

All of Us research program visits Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The National Institutes of Health’s nationwide effort to rebuild trust in medical research kicked off Tuesday in Indianapolis.

Rebuilding and earning trust is the goal of the National Institutes of Health as they come with the interactive mobile exhibit “All of Us Journey.”

Mäe Sandberg, senior manager of community engagement for the federal National Institutes of Health, said, “We’re talking about Black and brown communities, the LGBTQIA+ communities, rural communities. We want to ensures that everyone benefits from medical research.”

The exhibit in Indianapolis will move to four separate locations during its time in the city. The first location is at the Light of the World Christian Church on North Michigan Road.

“We’re going to be here in Indianapolis and the neighboring area for about four weeks, almost a month, in case someone is interested and they’re like, ‘Gosh, this isn’t near me,’ there’s likely to be another location where you can come out.”

The exhibit offers interactive videos, quizzes and games designed to show how participating in health research can make a difference. “This information is not shared with government agencies; it’s not shared with the public. It’s strictly for the use to help people make medical advancements.”

The All of Us Research Program has already enrolled 800,000 participants with 80% of them coming from underrepresented communities to better understand how factors including genetics, environment, and lifestyle affect health.

For people who are hesitant to donate bio samples, Sandberg says, they can contribute in other ways with surveys.

“We did a cope survey that was literally like, ‘How are you coping with this situation both mentally and emotionally?’ There have been some learnings from that, and those are things that didn’t require DNA.”

The research events will be in Indianapolis until Oct. 17th. Participants need to be 18 or older.