The National Institutes of Health recently announced survey responses that show the majority of people introduced to the concept of the Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI) Cohort Program would be willing to participate.

The PMI Cohort Program is a longitudinal research effort that aims to engage 1 million or more U.S. participants to improve the ability to prevent and treat disease based on individual differences in lifestyle, environment and genetics.

After reading a short description of the program, 79 percent of respondents expressed support for the program and 54 percent said they would definitely or probably participate if asked. This level of support was fairly consistent across racial and ethnic groups, as well as other demographic categories.

Respondents said they would be willing to share with researchers:

• Blood samples (73 percent)
• Genetic information (76 percent)
• Family medical history (77 percent)
• Soil and water samples from their home (83 percent)
• Data on their lifestyle, diet and exercise (84 percent).