White House health program selects Fitbit as wearable device in data collection

The "All of Us" research program, established by the White House in 2015, has selected Fitbit as the wearable to be used to collect data that will be used in subsequent research on preventing diseases based on individual characteristics.  

“As part of the global shift towards precision medicine, wearable data has the potential to inform highly personalized healthcare,” said Adam Pellegrini, general manager of Fitbit Health Solutions. “Through this historic initiative, we will be able to see the role that Fitbit data can play on the path to better understanding how individualization can help to prevent and treat disease.”

The program will aim to enroll one million participants, 10,000 of which will receive Fitbit devices, to collect data on individual lifestyles, environment and biological makeup to advance research into how these factors effect health and disease. The one-year study will also provide data on the relationship between health outcomes and physical activity, heart rate and sleep

“Most of what researchers know is based on intermittent snapshots of health in an artificial setting or based on personal recall,” said Steven Steinhubl, MD, cardiologist and director of digital medicine at Scripps Translational Science Institute. “Through this research program, we’ll have access to comprehensive activity, heart rate and sleep data that may help us better understand the relationship between lifestyle behaviors and health outcomes and what that means for patients on an individualized basis.”