Frequently asked questions.

Location: You can take part from anywhere in the U.S. Study visits happen where you are, not at a clinic. Depending on the study, we ship a study kit to your home and a mobile phlebotomist comes to you to conduct the study visit.

Duration: The study is longitudinal, meaning we follow our members over time. The minimum participation length is 2 years. After that, we check in to ask whether you would like to continue.

Study Visits: Members complete at least one study visit per year. Your study team will let you know what to expect for your study.

Age range: Adults 18 and older.

Onyx aims to advance precision medicine by helping researchers better understand how the immune system changes over time. By combining blood samples, medical records, and health information from many members over time, the study seeks to generate insights that may improve the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of immune-related diseases.

Onyx is a research collective based in Berkeley, California. Our founders hold PhDs from UC Berkeley with backgrounds in computational biology and AI. The study is IRB-approved, meaning an independent ethics board oversees how the research is conducted and how member data is handled. Learn more at onyx.bio or contact us at research@onyx.bio.

IRB stands for Institutional Review Board — an independent ethics committee that reviews and oversees research involving human participants (e.g., members). IRB approval means our study meets established ethical standards for member safety, informed consent, and data protection.

Eligibility depends on the specific study. Some studies enroll people with one or more autoimmune or immune-related conditions, while others enroll healthy members to help establish baseline measurements for comparison. Additional eligibility criteria are reviewed during screening. Visit our studies page to see what's currently open.

Our studies cover a broad range of immune-mediated and inflammatory conditions beyond what may be shown in a single ad. If your condition isn't specifically mentioned, we still encourage you to complete the prescreening questionnaire anyway. We review all completed prescreening questionnaires and may be able to include you. We are adding new conditions over time.

No. This study is observational, also called non-interventional, and does not require you to start or stop any treatments.

Enrolled members receive $100 for each completed study visit. That means, at the minimum, enrolled members will receive $100 per year. Study visits typically involve giving a blood sample for our research team to study. Compensation is issued after each visit is completed.

We currently compensate our members directly through Venmo, Cash App, and PayPal. This is subject to change. If you prefer another method, contact us and we may be able to accommodate.

Compensation is set to fairly recognize the time and effort it takes to participate, such as completing a study visit. Like every part of a research study, the amount is reviewed and approved by our IRB. Following the standards set out in the Common Rule (45 CFR part 46), the IRB checks that compensation is fair and appropriate, and that it is never so high that it could pressure someone into joining or staying.

The amount is the same for every participant: $100 for each completed study visit. It is not based on your health, your results, or anything specific to you, and it is not adjusted from one person to the next.

As for whether it can change: your per-visit amount will not go up or down based on you as an individual. If the study's compensation were ever updated, that change would apply to all members, go through IRB review, and we would let you know ahead of time.

As a research member, you authorize us to request your medical records on your behalf. At each visit, you give a blood sample for our research team to study and answer a short set of questions about your health.

Here is how a visit works:

1. We first ship a study kit to your home, holding the supplies your mobile phlebotomist needs.
2. Once it arrives, a mobile phlebotomist contacts you to schedule a time, then comes to you to complete your study visit.

There is no clinic trip, and you do not collect or mail anything yourself.

No. You won't receive your individual results, and this isn't a decision we make case by case — it's a legal limit that applies to every study like ours.

Under a federal law called CLIA, only certified clinical labs can give a person their individual results to use for diagnosis or treatment. Our lab analyzes your sample for research, not medical care, so we can't return individual results — even if you ask.

What we can share are study-wide findings. As the research progresses, we'll share what we're learning overall. These describe the group as a whole, not any single member.

If you want to understand what's happening in your own body, your doctor is the right place to start. A research finding isn't a substitute for a test they order.

Your medical care stays entirely between you and your own doctors. If you ever have questions about your own health, your personal doctor is the right person to help, and they can arrange any clinical testing you may need.

Your information is handled in line with HIPAA protections. Before your medical records and samples are used for research, your medical record data is de-identified before it is used for research — meaning personal details like your name, address, phone number, and email are removed. Your personal information is not sold to third parties. You can read our full privacy policy for more detail.

We review every completed prescreening questionnaire, and response times can vary. If you haven't heard back, please email research@onyx.bio with your name and the study you applied for. Our team will follow up as quickly as possible.

If you're experiencing issues with email verification, the prescreening questionnaire, or any other step, please email support@onyx.bio and describe the issue. Our team can help you complete your application.