California Initiative to Advance Precision Medicine Representative Research through Partnerships Program
About Representative Research
Historically, clinical research has been characterized by a lack of representation that does not match the demographics of the disease burden or health condition under study. This lack of representation compromises the generalizability of clinical research findings to the total population, hinders innovation, limits access to effective medical interventions and treatments, and compounds health disparities in the populations underrepresented in clinical research. Additionally, advances in biomedical research might not be effective for people from underrepresented communities, who have been underrecognized or historically excluded in research studies, or may even be harmful. Populations underrepresented in research include, but are not limited to, racial and ethnic minoritized populations, older adults, pregnant and lactating individuals, LGBTQ+ populations, and persons with disabilities. Clinical research and clinical trials that better match the demographics of the disease or health condition of interest addresses the historical lack of representation in research and results in representative research.
Research Portfolio
As envisioned in the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) 2011 report, Toward Precision Medicine: Building a Knowledge Network for Biomedical Research and a New Taxonomy of Disease, this approach aims to aggregate, integrate, and analyze vast amounts of data from research, clinical, personal, environmental, and population health settings to develop and deliver more precise preventive measures, diagnostics, and therapeutics. Precision medicine also considers the social determinants of health and the whole person, such as age, cultural background, disability status, ethnicity/race, gender identity, geographic location, religion or faith, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status.
$6.2 million dollars of state funds have been awarded to support demonstration projects for representative precision medicine research with the goal of improving research representation and participation, innovation, and ultimately equitable outcomes through collaboration between academic researchers, community and nonprofit organizations. Each project will receive ~$1.2 - 1.7 million over 2.5 years, beginning Summer 2026.
All projects were selected through a competitive Request for Applications. The out-of-state Expert Selection Committee selected awardees based on strong scientific merit of their application and alignment with the Request for Applications. Application priorities included focus on 'representative research' aimed for the inclusion of underrepresented populations, who have been underrecognized or historically excluded, as research participants, so that research ultimately benefits all Californians and reduces health disparities.
Selections Process
Demonstration Projects were selected through a three-step competitive peer-review process by an independent, out-of-state Expert Selection Committee. Following the submission of Letters of Intent, expert reviewers employed a process for selection of Initial Applications and Full Applications (Finalist Stage) based on National Institutes of Health standards for R01 research awards.
Applications were reviewed across several factors embedded in CIAPM's enabling statute, including the:
1. potential for tangible benefit to patients within five years
2. expertise of the team
3. clinical and commercial potential
4. potential to reduce health disparities
5. potential to scale and leverage multiple electronic health records systems, among other criteria listed in the Request for Applications.
Each application was also assigned an overall impact score and ranked according to this score. As per statutory requirements and the Request for Applications, at least one awardee must be located in northern California and one awardee in southern California. Following this process and in compliance with the above criteria, the selection committee recommended the four awards above.
Applicants
- A Precision Prevention Approach to Improve Equitable Lung Cancer Detection in California, Stanford University
- Assessing the Role of Social Determinants of Health for Identifying Genomic Contributions to Common Complex Diseases, UC San Diego
- Bridging the gap in Genomic Sequencing: An AI algorithm to identify underserved pediatric patients, Rady's Children’s Hospital
- CARE-GT-Community Access and Representative Engagement in Gene Therapy for Neurological Disorders, UC Los Angeles
- Data-Driven and Community-Led Approaches to Equitable Precision Medicine in California, UC Davis
- Enhancing precision medicine through data integration in a community-engaged cohort of LGBTQIA+ persons, Stanford University
- Expanding Representative Precision Medicine for Rare and Difficult-to-Treat Pediatric Cancers in California, UC Santa Cruz
- Inland Empire Precision Medicine Research Partnership, UC Riverside
- Leveraging Academic-Community Partnership to Promote Representative Genomic Research in Pediatrics, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
- PATH-CA: A Precision Medicine Platform to Close Know–Do Gaps and Reduce Preterm Birth Inequities for Low-Income Californians, UC San Francisco
- Precision ACCESS: Leveraging Community Partnerships and the NIH Undiagnosed Diseases Network to Advance Representative Research in Precision Medicine, UC Irvine
- Precision Multisensory Profiling to Reduce Neurodevelopmental Disability in High-Risk Infants in California, San Jose State University
- Precision Vaccination Program for Youth and Adults with Developmental Disabilities and Complex Chronic Conditions (PVP-DD&CCC), UC Los Angeles
- A Collaborative Platform for Personalized, Generalizable, and Equitable Research in Acute Care, UC San Francisco
- A Community-Partnered Precision Medicine Approach: Mapping Biological Pathways and Socioecological Risks among Southern California NHPIs, UC Los Angeles
- A Community-Partnered Precision Medicine Training Program to Improve Representative Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD) Drug Trial Engagement, UC Los Angeles
- A multi-level population-based resource for cancer precision medicine research in Asian American populations: ASPIRE Cohort, UC San Francisco
- A Partnership Integrating Social, Environmental, and Multi-Omics Data to Enhance Precision Health and Reduce Health Disparities, University of Southern California
- A Precision Public Health Approach for Improving Mental and Behavioral Health Outcomes among California’s Youth, UC San Francisco
- A Variant-to-Therapy Pipeline for Gene Correction in Blau Syndrome, UC Los Angeles
- Addressing pediatric metabolic-associated steatotic liver disease in Latino youth through multi-omics research, training, and community-engaged preventive health promotion, University of Southern California
- Advancing Equitable Pharmacogenomics Implementation in Underserved California Communities Through Community-Academic Partnerships, UC San Francisco
- Advancing Pharmacogenomic Informed Mental Health Treatment and Safety for Underrepresented Californians Through Precision Care Partnership Models, University of Southern California
- Advancing precision mental and behavioral health: A cross-sectoral, community-engaged partnership to expand access and improve care for Californians, UC Berkeley
- AI-Guided Predictive Self-Care: Real-Time Multi-Modal Modeling in Community Settings for Complex Chronic Disease Management, UC Irvine
- An Academic/Community Partnership to Predict Preeclampsia and Improve Maternal Health by Integrating Multi-Modal Data, UC San Diego
- An AI-Assisted, Patient-Centric Platform for Equitable Pressure Ulcer Prevention, UC Santa Cruz
- Applying Precision Medicine to HIV PrEP Decision Making, UC Los Angeles
- Assessing the precision of chronic disease risk estimators from the perspective of racial/ethnic diversity, genetic ancestry and polygenic risk, UC San Francisco
- Bridging Precision Medicine and Community Care: A Pharmacogenomics Initiative for California’s Underserved Populations, UC Davis
- Bridging the Equity Gap in Pancreatic Cancer through AI-Driven Multi-Omics Precision Medicine, UC San Francisco
- Bridging the gap: how to bring benefits of genetic services to underserved population, UC Los Angeles
- Building a Better Pipeline to Recovery Housing: A Precision Medicine Approach, CSU Northridge
- Cal-RIG: Representative Infertility Genomics to Reduce Reproductive Health Disparities in California, UC San Francisco
- Community-Informed Precision Medicine for Early Detection and Personalized Care for Preeclampsia, UC San Diego
- Determining genetic, hemodynamic, and imaging profiles of pulmonary hypertension in congenital heart disease in diverse patient populations, UC San Francisco
- Digital Continuous Multimodal Sensing Platform for Body-Mind Measurement for Diagnosis and Treatment of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder, UC Los Angeles
- Early dementia detection using personalized genetic and exposome risk assessment across diverse populations, UC San Francisco
- EFIRM2-NexGen Liquid Biopsy for KRAS Mutation Detection in Pancreatic Cancer: Advancing Representative Precision Medicine in California, UC Los Angeles
- Environmental detection of lead using CRISPR-Cas enzymes, UC Berkeley
- Evaluating and Advancing the Generalizability of Artificial Intelligence Models for Precision Diagnosis, UC San Francisco
- Exploiting TGFß Biology to Promote Keloids Response to Radiotherapy, UC San Francisco
- From “Always-On” to “Precision-On”: Defining and Implementing Phenotype-Guided Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGM) Use in Type 2 Diabetes, UC Los Angeles
- Investigating Toxic Exposures and Geospatial Risk to Advance Targeted and Equitable Strategies in Pediatric Asthma (INTEGRATE-Asthma), UC Berkeley
- Longitudinal Menopause Project, UC San Francisco
- Multi-Omic Precision Medicine to Address Diversity in the Treatment of Aggressive Myeloid Blood Cancers and Pediatric Brain Cancer in California, City of Hope
- Neurophysiological biomarkers for monitoring patient health for mental and physical conditions: A community–technology partnership for precision medicine, CSU Bakersfield
- Partnership for Precision Health Equity in Community Clinics: Advancing Representative Research on Preventable Adverse Drug Events, UC Davis
- Precision Access and Targeted Health Navigation - Imperial County (PATH-IC), UC San Diego
- Precision Asthma Care Initiative for Imperial County Children (PACIFIC), UC San Diego
- Precision Cardiovascular Disease Prevention Guided By Coronary Artery Calcium Staging, UC Davis
- Precision Digital Mental Health for Underserved and High-Risk California Community College Students: A Hybrid Trial of a Scalable Stepped-Care System, UC Davis
- Precision interception of early-onset colorectal cancer, Stanford University
- Precision Medicine Approaches to Chronic Stress, Brain–Gut Pathways, and Medical Comorbidities in Underrepresented California Communities, UC Los Angeles
- Precision Medicine in Serious Mental Illness (PRISM), UC San Francisco
- Precision Sleep Health through Deep Phenotyping in Adolescents, UC Los Angeles
- PreSEAsion: Precision Medicine among Southeast Asian Americans, CSU Northridge
- Quantification of Impediments to Patients with Limited English Proficiency Participating in Clinical Research with a Goal of Decreasing These Barriers, UC Los Angeles
- Rapid and Representative Molecular Diagnosis of Valley Fever in Central California, UC San Francisco
- Responsible Artificial Intelligence for Social Effectiveness in Precision Medicine (RAISE Precision Medicine), Stanford University
- Social-Environmental Precision Geroscience: Can Community Action Help to Optimize Biological Aging and Personalized Medicine among Older Californians?, Stanford University
- The ABC – ACCESS (Adult Brain Cohort - Advancing Care through Comprehensive Evidence-based Sequencing Strategies) Study, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
- The Whole Person Navigator: An Open-Source Precision-Medicine Artificial Intelligence (AI) Tool to Standardize Social Determinants of Health Data in California Community Clinics and Promote Social-Risk Informed Care, UC San Francisco
- Vascular and sociocultural contributions to cerebral small vessel disease: A precision medicine approach, UC San Francisco