Why Use Indianapolis to Create the First Platform?

The Indianapolis community is an ideal site for the prospective, longitudinal research study needed to create the Fairbanks Institute’s first research platform. Indianapolis is an ethnically diverse community and ranks high on national lists for rates of cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and obesity, making it a true “All-American” city. Indianapolis also has a stable residency which makes it easier to follow study participants over time. In addition, the health challenges of the Indianapolis community have been studied and well documented since the early 1970s through the nationally recognized health informatics capabilities of the Regenstrief Institute at Indiana University. The Regenstrief Institute, one of the largest and most comprehensive medical informatics laboratories in the world, has unparalleled expertise in the capture, storage and secure sharing of electronic medical record data that enhances the value of a longitudinal study of the region’s population.