A model for supporting biomedical and public health researcher use of publicly available All of Us data at Historically Black Colleges and Universities.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to describe opportunities and challenges associated with the development and implementation of a program for supporting researchers underrepresented in biomedical research. APPROACH: We describe a case study of the All of Us Researcher Academy supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), including feedback from participants, instructors, and coaches. FINDINGS: Lessons include the importance of inviting role models into learning networks, establishing and maintaining trusted relationships, and making coaches available for technical questions from researcher participants. ORIGINALITY: Although research has focused on learning outcomes in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics at Minority Serving Institutions in the United States, literature tends to lack models for initiatives to improve everyday research experiences of faculty and researchers at such institutions or to encourage researcher use of public-use data such as that available through NIH's All of Us Research Program. The All of Us Researcher Academy offers a model that addresses these needs.

Including the Public in Public eHealth: The Need for Community Participation in the Development of State-Sponsored COVID-19-Related Mobile Apps.

The COVID-19 pandemic has overwhelmed health care systems worldwide, particularly in underresourced communities of color with a high prevalence of pre-existing health conditions. Many state governments and health care entities responded by increasing their capacity for telemedicine and disease tracking and creating mobile apps for dissemination of medical information. Our experiences with state-sponsored apps suggest that because many of these eHealth tools did not include community participation, they inadvertently contributed to widening digital health disparities. We propose that, as eHealth tools continue to expand as a form of health care, more attention needs to be given to their equitable distribution, accessibility, and usage. In this viewpoint collaboratively written by a minority-serving community-based organization and an eHealth academic research team, we present our experience participating in a community advisory board working on the dissemination of the COVID Alert NY mobile app to illustrate the importance of public participation in app development. We also provide practical recommendations on how to involve community representatives in the app development process. We propose that transparency and community involvement in the process of app development ultimately increases buy-in, trust, and usage of digital technology in communities where they are needed most.