Irving Kron, MD, professor of surgery and senior associate vice president for health sciences at the University of Arizona, has been named the new contact principal investigator (PI) for the All of Us Research Program at the University of Arizona Health Sciences and Banner Health.
In his new role, Dr. Kron will lead the multiple PI leadership team established by the UA and Banner Health. This includes the ongoing efforts of Principal Investigators Eric M. Reiman, MD, executive director of Banner Alzheimer’s Institute and Banner Research and professor of psychiatry, and Andreas Theodorou, MD, chief clinical education officer for Banner University Medical Group and professor of pediatrics, joined by PIs Rachele Peterson, MS, executive director of the All of Us Research Program, and Francisco Moreno, MD, associate vice president for diversity and inclusion at the UA Health Sciences and professor of psychiatry.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) leads the All of Us Research Program. Since 2017, the UA and Banner Health have partnered in this precision medicine effort that aims to accelerate biomedical research and advance the health of future generations. Unlike a single research study focused on a specific disease or population, All of Us will serve as a national research resource to inform thousands of studies, covering a wide variety of health conditions that affect many different people. The All of Us Research Program has made strong progress in its efforts to advance precision medicine, according to a report recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine. As of August 2019, more than 193,000 participants have completed the core protocol nationwide.
“I am thrilled to be part of this major research endeavor and partnership,” Dr. Kron said. “Precision medicine is the future of accurate care for patients. This program has the potential to change everything we do for an individual’s care.”
During his career, Dr. Kron has published more than 500 manuscripts; has made 250 presentations on cardiothoracic surgery in the United States and internationally; has published 30 books and has been the principal investigator for more than 20 funded research grants, with almost 30 years of continuous NIH funding.
He has experience as a PI in leading multicenter Phase II and Phase III clinical trials across multiple sites as part of the Network for Cardiothoracic Surgical Investigations in Cardiovascular Medicine, which continuously was funded by the NIH for 10 years. Dr. Kron has led and participated in numerous protocol-development committees, consistently ensuring his site was one of the top enrollers in network trials, and successfully ran a skills-development program in the network.
The University of Arizona-Banner Health All of Us Research Program, in partnership with Mariposa Community Health Center, has enrolled more than 32,800 participants to date from across a two-state region of Arizona and Colorado, with more than 82% of volunteers from communities historically underrepresented in biomedical research, representing diversity in race/ethnicity, age, sexual and gender minorities and socioeconomic status.
All eligible adults who live in the United States can join the All of Us Research Program and U.S. citizenship or permanent residency are not needed to enroll. Only people who are 18 or older can join at this time.
The All of Us Research Program at the UA and Banner Health is funded by NIH Award OT2OD026549. “All of Us” is a registered service mark of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
About the University of Arizona Health Sciences
The University of Arizona Health Sciences is the statewide leader in biomedical research and health professions training. The UA Health Sciences includes the UA Colleges of Medicine (Tucson and Phoenix), Nursing, Pharmacy, and the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, with main campus locations in Tucson and the growing Phoenix Biomedical Campus in downtown Phoenix. From these vantage points, the UA Health Sciences reaches across the state of Arizona and the greater Southwest to provide cutting-edge health education, research, patient care and community outreach services. A major economic engine, the UA Health Sciences employs nearly 5,000 people, has approximately 900 faculty members and garners $200 million in research grants and contracts annually. For more information: uahs.arizona.edu (Follow us: Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | LinkedIn | Instagram)
About Banner – University Medical Center Tucson and South
Banner – University Medical Center Tucson, nationally ranked as a Best Hospital by U.S. News and World Report, and Banner – University Medical Center South, are part of Banner – University Medicine, a premier academic medical network. These institutions are academic medical centers for the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson. Included on the two campuses are Diamond Children's Medical Center and many specialty clinics. The two academic medical centers are part of Arizona-based Banner Health, one of the largest nonprofit health-care systems in the country, with 28 hospitals in six states: Arizona, California, Colorado, Nebraska, Nevada and Wyoming. For more information, visit BannerHealth.com/UniversityTucson or bannerhealth.com/UniversitySouth