The National Institutes of Health has announced a new $31 million effort to explore the potential of precision medicine to target health disparities nationwide.

Through the program, the NIH aims to develop new tools and methodologies to integrate patient data with information on various factors impacting health outcomes in communities. These factors include social and economic conditions.

The NIH is setting up what it calls Transdisciplinary Collaborative Centers (TTCs), with each center focusing on two to three research projects.

HealthData Management: “Unfortunately, racial-ethnic minorities as well as socio-economically disadvantaged and rural populations in the U.S. continue to experience a disproportionate share of many diseases and adverse health conditions. However, precision medicine holds great promise for reducing these health disparities through better targeted prevention and treatment strategies.”