Eyes on Health: New Study Offered through All of Us Research Program

In May 2024, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) selected UC Irvine to lead a Southern California-based consortium for the nationwide All of Us Research Program, building on UC Irvine’s success in overall program enrollment. Partnering with All of Us since the program’s beginning in 2018, UC Irvine has enrolled more than 29,000 participants, helping create one of the most comprehensive health databases in history. With over 865,000 consented participants nationwide, All of Us is one of the largest, accessible biomedical research databases of its kind.

“It’s the most unique and extensive program, addressing not only one disease at a time but also general health by allowing researchers to explore new things as they consider individual differences in lifestyle, environment and biology,” says Hoda Anton-Culver, PhD, a Donald Bren Professor and Distinguished Professor of medicine at UC Irvine. “Everybody’s welcome.”

As principal investigator of the All of Us Southern California Consortium, Anton-Culver is thrilled that in July 2025, NIH awarded UC Irvine additional funding for a new Eyes on Health ocular imaging research project. The Eyes on Health Partnered Research Study is a collaboration among the All of Us Research Program, the National Eye Institute, and the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, with the goal of exploring connections between eye health and overall health.

“We’re ecstatic,” says Anton-Culver. “We’re one of just four institutions in the US facilitating the Eyes on Health project.”

Eyes on Health

The study aims to expand the All of Us dataset by collecting eye images from 5,000 or more people, including color fundus photos, optical coherence tomography (OCT), and OCT angiography. This will help researchers better understand not only eye diseases but what structures in the eye can tell us about our overall health. For example, what is the link between eye health markers and conditions such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes and neurological disorders? This work will also help advance oculomics research, which uses eye health as a window into broader health trends.

Anton-Culver hopes to recruit 1,250 participants, partnering closely with Andrew W. Browne, MD, PhD, an assistant professor of ophthalmology & visual sciences in the School of Medicine and a board-certified UCI Health ophthalmology specialist at the Gavin Herbert Eye Institute.

Participants in the Eyes on Health study will receive a printed color fundus photo of their retina, educational materials about eye health and $25 compensation for their time. If any signs of optical tumors, retinal detachment or optic disc edema are detected during the review process, participants will be notified.

“We’re excited to provide you with a picture of the back of your eye,” says Anton-Culver. The photo may show early signs of common eye conditions, including glaucoma, macular degeneration or diabetic retinopathy. Researchers can study these images to learn more about these and many other systemic conditions.

“Eyes on Health, scientifically and clinically, is a really important project,” says Anton-Culver. “We want to know whether what we see in those images can predict overall health.”

The opportunity to apply for Eyes on Health is available through the All of Us program.

All of Us

The All of Us Research Program continues working toward its target of more than one million participants. Moving away from a “one size fits all” approach to healthcare and creating more personalized treatment options requires research that includes all of us — data from adults and children of all backgrounds.

“This is a large resource that anybody can use,” says Anton-Culver. The All of Us Research Hub, available at www.researchallofus.org, includes whole genome sequencing data from 414,000+ participants; electronic health record data; and survey responses on mental health, family history, social factors and more. Today, more than 18,000 researchers are studying the data made available from participants.

The All of Us Research Program at UC Irvine focuses on enrollment and retention of participants. The Genetic Epidemiology Research Institute (GERI) at UCI, a research unit led by Anton-Culver, continues to provide seed grant funding to UC Irvine researchers to use All of Us data for projects. GERI also has plans to initiate research programs funded by NIH, the National Cancer Institute, and the Department of Defense to study cancer etiology, control and prevention.

“The coming year for All of Us at UC Irvine will include exciting new developments and special projects, including the Eyes on Health project,” says Anton-Culver. “We’re promoting health research in a big way.”

If you’re interested in participating in the Eyes on Health ocular imaging research project, start by joining All of Us at joinallofus.org, or call (949) 824-0282 to learn more. If you’re already an All of Us participant, and you want to join the Eyes on Health study, call (949) 824-0282 to learn more. If you’re a researcher seeking more information about the All of Us Research Program data or GERI, contact jennyf3@hs.uci.edu.