Middletown-based Community Health Center Inc. said it will be among the first federally qualified health centers to receive federal funds to help build up a large base of volunteer patients from which physicians and researcher hope to glean insights into disease treatments based on differences in genetics, environment and lifestyle.
CHC has been selected by the National Institutes of Health to join the so-called cohort program of President Obama’s Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI), which launched last year, and aims to enlist one million or more volunteers for data collection. Officials see the pilot program as critical for enlisting those individuals who have been underserved and underrepresented in biomedical research in the past. CHC and its Weitzman Institute specialize in the study of primary care for underserved populations.
CHC will help determine what infrastructure would be needed for fellow FQHCs to participate in the program.
Regional and national medical centers as Veterans Affairs facilities are also involved in the program.
