BURLINGAME, Calif., Sept. 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Today the National Institutes of Health (NIH) awarded inaugural funding to Color, in partnership with the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and the Laboratory for Molecular Medicine (LMM) at Partners HealthCare, to establish one of three genome centers around the country for its historic All of Us Research Program.

The All of Us Research Program is one of the most ambitious biomedical research efforts ever undertaken in the U.S. The Program will sequence one million or more people across the U.S., with the goal of accelerating health research and enabling individualized prevention, treatment, and care. By focusing on recruitment from populations that have been historically underrepresented in clinical science and genomic medicine, All of Us will build the most diverse biomedical data resource of its kind, providing a powerful foundation for better insights into the biological, environmental, and behavioral factors that influence health.

Color will be responsible for analyzing and reporting genomic data, with expert support from Partners LMM, for a set of 59 genes that can cause serious and preventable clinical conditions such as breast and ovarian cancer, familial hypercholesterolemia, Lynch syndrome, and others. Color will also provide pharmacogenomic results, which offer useful information about how the body processes and responds to medications. These analyses will be based on clinical-grade genomic data generated at the Broad Institute, one of the world's leading clinical genomic and health research facilities.  

"We are honored to be selected by the NIH, along with our exceptional partners at the Broad Institute and Partners LMM, to help implement this groundbreaking research program," said Color CEO Othman Laraki. "Since our founding, we have believed population genomics is the key to moving towards a data-driven and prevention- oriented model of care. All of Us is a tremendous opportunity to unlock the benefits of genetic information to better understand disease and help people live healthier lives."

"Color will be an essential partner to the Broad in this new endeavor," said Stacey Gabriel, senior director of the Broad Institute Genomics Platform. "The depth and variety of data produced by All of Us will be an invaluable resource for gaining insights into health and disease. We are thrilled to be a part of this."

About Color
Color is a population genomics technology company. Color's clinical-grade sequencing, software and analytics platform makes it easy and affordable for people around the world to access their genetic information to learn about their hereditary risk for cancer and heart disease, and how their genes affect medication management. Simply providing a saliva sample from home gives Color clients access to an ongoing service that provides tools and insights to manage key aspects of their long-term health. Large populations such as employers (Visa, Levi Strauss, Salesforce, SAP, dozens of others) and health systems (including UCSF, Jefferson and University of Chicago) are partnering with Color to bring genetics and preventive health to their populations in a streamlined and integrated way. Learn more at color.com.

About the All of Us Research Program
The mission of the All of Us Research Program is to accelerate health research and medical breakthroughs, enabling individualized prevention, treatment, and care for all of us. The program will partner with 1 million or more people across the United States to build the most diverse biomedical data resource of its kind, to help researchers gain better insights into the biological, environmental, and behavioral factors that influence health. For more information, visit www.JoinAllofUs.org (link is external) and www.AllofUs.nih.gov.

SOURCE Color