Los Angeles Times

How You Can Help Shape the Future of Health

- Jane L. Delgado, Ph.D., M.S., President and CEO, Healthy Americas Foundation

Science is advancing at a rapid pace that is changing the most basic ideas about how we take care of ourselves.

We know the one-size-fıts-all type of healthcare that was the standard of care for decades may actually hurt, rather than help. We have learned that Hispanics, regardless of heritage, absorb medicines in different ways, and that the effectiven­ess of medicine varies by the food you eat and even the time of day you take it.

Thanks to progress in science, we have learned more about our genes and how unique each one of us is, and also how much we have in common. Most important of all, we learned that our genes are only part of the story about our health. The future of health is about personaliz­ed medicine so that each person gets the medicine and treatments that will provide the most benefıt.

To make this vision possible, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) launched the All of Us Research Program, which is seeking to enroll 1 million or more people from across the United States to help speed up medical research. While the goal is impressive, just as important is that from the outset of the effort there has been a signifıcan­t effort to include Hispanics.

In the future, the healthcare you receive will include the right medicine at the right time for you. You can be a part of that future by volunteeri­ng for the All of Us Research Program at www.joinallofu­s.org/juntos or by calling 1-844-842-2855. The future of health truly belongs to all of us.

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