Episode 41: Takin' it to the Streets- Reimagining Research

TGen Talks

For TGen’s Dr. Matt Huentelman, leveraging today’s technology to rewrite the playbook on research recruiting and reimagine the scientific landscape involves attracting people to genomic studies in a whole new way. Leaning on a riff from the Doobie Brothers, Huentelman wants to take it to the streets. The Internet — in one form or another — has been around since the late 1960s, yet it’s only been within the last decade or so that scientists have taken advantage of online platforms to recruit for and drive large-scale research studies. For Huentelman, his MindCrowd study was among the early adopters and today has recruited over 160 thousand participants. But, not wanting to stop there, he believes the next iteration involves mobile laboratories that bring the science to a town and neighborhood near you. This month, on TGen Talks, Dr. Huentelman addresses his latest efforts with MindCrowd, plus his drive to understand aging and age-related diseases through a process he refers to as precision aging. And not just for some. Studying diverse populations remains critical to fully understanding aging and how it effects all walks of life and all aspects of society — from urban to rural and everywhere in-between. Is a mobile lab visit in your future?