Greetings to the IHCC Community –

As we reach the middle of 2022 the IHCC continues to follow the guiding principles of our strategic plan to provide tangible value to our diverse membership.  Our global community of cohorts and leaders continues to work together to generate impactful science and improve health worldwide.

Our IHCC Steering Committee met over five separate interactive sessions in March to strengthen our strategic plan and create a “roadmap” of both near-term objectives and long-range goals.  These meetings were very productive and the outcome builds upon the existing strategic plan, incorporating greater detail and guidance for decision-making and informing future IHCC funding applications.

In May the IHCC submitted an application to the NIH for a 5-year, U24-Genomic Community Resources grant.  The overarching goal for this proposal is to create a global resource for the international scientific community that enables cohorts to revolutionize population health science through a sustainable data infrastructure, a collaborative research environment, and policies and best practices that foster connectivity, interoperability, and reciprocity.   We wish to thank the many IHCC members who contributed to the NIH-U24 application for your dedication to our mission and values.  To continue our commitment to sustainability, we are preparing a complimentary 5-year funding proposal to the Wellcome Trust over the next few months.

The IHCC continues to stimulate impactful science through our broad range of collaborative Pilot Projects that all include low and middle income countries, low resource settings and under-represented cohorts as active participants.  Several scientific publications arising from the Pilot Projects are currently under review at various journals including: COVID-Mental Health, COVI-Gen, BMI-Colon Cancer, Metabolomics, Davos Alzheimer’s Consortium (DAC), and the PRS Pilot.  We congratulate all of the authors for reaching this important milestone,  they are the first of many more discoveries that will emerge from collaborations among IHCC members.

Finally, we want to thank all our IHCC members for participating in our activities and who continue to provide valuable input to the IHCC surveys, workshops, webinars, newsletters, and meetings throughout the year.  You are the focus of these efforts as we endeavor to convene, connect, and catalyze successful scientific collaborations across the IHCC.  We are truly grateful for your time and effort.  

As always we welcome your input and guidance – please reach out anytime.

Sincerely, Geoff, Michele, and Peter