Research Highlight: Metch Nelson ’25
For his senior thesis project, Metch Nelson ’25, in collaboration with Dr. Brett Maricque at Washington University in St. Louis, is researching the disparities in healthcare in the context of large-scale genetic research programs. Specifically, Metch’s research focuses on the National Institute of Health’s All of Us Program, which aims to improve health care by building a diverse database that can inform thousands of studies on a variety of health conditions. Below, Metch shares more about his thesis research and why he was inspired to take on this work.
Tell us about your research.
My research focuses on the All of Us Research Program, a large-scale genetic initiative designed to accelerate precision medicine by collecting diverse health data from one million or more participants across the US. The program’s goal is to improve healthcare outcomes by ensuring personalized treatment approaches. I am specifically examining the program’s history, motivations, leadership, participant engagement, and challenges, with an emphasis on understanding and addressing the lack of diversity in genomic datasets.
How did you become interested in this topic?
My passion for equitable healthcare access arose because of my family’s Haitian background. The realization that underrepresented communities are often excluded from genetic research resonated with me.
What is the All of Us program?
The All of Us Research Program is an initiative by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to create one of the most diverse health databases in the world. By gathering genetic, environmental, and lifestyle data from a wide range of participants, the program aims to enable researchers to develop more precise and effective ways to prevent and treat diseases.
How do underrepresented communities get left out of these large-scale genetic studies?
Typically, these people get left out of programs for two main reasons: historical distrust and lack of outreach. Because of their history with science through movements like eugenics, they’re typically not interested in participating in these programs. Outreach is also a huge issue since oftentimes these programs don’t reach out to more diverse neighborhoods because of the potential for these people to not be able to participate well enough because of their lack of resources.
What are some of the implications for underrepresented communities in terms of health outcomes and access to health care?
The main implications are worsened health outcomes and lack of access. Medical treatments are often less effective because research often overlooks these populations’ unique needs since there’s a lack of participation in these genomic projects. Oftentimes, medical treatments are unaffordable for these underrepresented people.
What are some strategies that could be implemented to address these disparities?
The main strategies that could be implemented are structural changes within these large genomic projects. Community engagement is really important; if researchers engage in these communities – this could be holding workshops or information sessions – then trust can be built between these underrepresented people and the researchers. Incentivizing participation through some sort of financial compensation or support could increase their participation. Lastly, establishing a really strong ethical policy for these types of studies could ease underrepresented people’s distrust in the research.