Category: genomics

Happy Thanksgiving 2018: Protect your family’s health by using My Family Health Portrait to collect and share your family health history

a multigenerational familly eating a thanksgiving meal and a picture of DNA is hanging on the wall

Happy Thanksgiving Day! It is time to send our yearly message on the importance of family health history to your own health. Every year we emphasize a slightly different version of this message. In 2017, we highlighted the simple fact that even in the age of genomics and precision medicine, family health history remains as Read More >

Posted on by Muin J Khoury, Director, Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and PreventionLeave a comment
Categories family history, genomics
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Contributions of Public Health in Reducing the Population Burden of Familial Hypercholesterolemia: Challenges and Opportunities

In October 2018, we attended the fifth annual Global Familial Hypercholesterolemia (FH) Summit. This gathering of more than 300 people from over 30 countries included patients, researchers, government organizations, practitioners, health systems, implementation science experts, and industry. The event focused on methods for accelerating uptake of evidence into clinical practice and health policy. The event Read More >

Posted on by Muin J. Khoury, Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia; George A. Mensah, Center for Translation Research and Implementation Science, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Bethesda, Maryland1 Comment
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Perspectives from a state genetics coordinator: Public health’s role in addressing familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) in the United States

a body with exposed heart and an artery with cholesterol and a pedigree in the background

For several years I have pondered what should or could be the state public health agency role in addressing FH. Most of my public health genetics colleagues were actively working on other CDC-labeled tier 1 conditions, such as Lynch syndrome (LS) and Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer syndrome (HBOC). While few, if any, of my Read More >

Posted on by Debra Lochner Doyle, Guest Blogger, State Genetics Coordinator, Washington State Department of Health, Kent, WashingtonLeave a comment
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2018 Yearlong Seminar Series in Public Health Genomics

Genomics Seminar Series 2018

Advances in genomics, bioinformatics and other technologies are ushering a new era of precision medicine and precision public health. Human genome sequencing is increasingly used in a variety of health systems in the United States and globally. Pathogen genomic sequencing is been rapidly integrated into clinical and public health research and practice. 2018 marked 20 Read More >

Posted on by Ridgely Fisk Green and Muin J. Khoury, Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia1 Comment
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Introducing GRANTOMICS: Our enhanced search engine and analysis tool for grant information associated with publications on genomics and population health impact.

screenshot of the GRANTOMICS database within PHGKB

The CDC Office of Public Health Genomics has launched GRANTOMICS, an extension of the Public Health Genomics Knowledge Base (PHGKB). GRANTOMICS is an upgraded version of the Grant Database, introduced in March, 2018, and reviewed in a previous blog. The upgraded GRANTOMICS database allows you to: Perform searches with any free text word or term, Read More >

Posted on by Wei Yu, Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Mindy Clyne, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences and Muin J. Khoury, Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia1 Comment
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The Road Less Traveled: Genomic Epidemiology Capacity in State Public Health Programs

a road not traveled much with sequencing

In 2017, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) published its latest Epidemiology Capacity Assessment of state health departments’ workforce size and resources. The assessment inquired about the number of current and optimal epidemiologist positions; sources of epidemiology activity and funding; and states’ self-perceived capacity to lead epidemiology activities, provide expertise, and manage resources Read More >

Posted on by Muin J. Khoury and Marta Gwinn, Office of Public Health Genomics (OPHG), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GeorgiaLeave a comment
Categories genomics, public health

Public Health is Striving Towards More Precision

a maginfying glass zooming in on precision data on a globe

In the past few years, the term “precision medicine” has become firmly established in the modern biomedical research enterprise. More recently, the term “precision” has made its way to the realm of public health. We and others have contributed to the discourse on precision public health and its relation to precision medicine. But not everyone Read More >

Posted on by Muin J. Khoury, Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and PreventionLeave a comment
Categories genomics

Announcing a New CDC Home for the U.S. Surgeon General’s Family Health History Tool

screenshot of the My Family Health Portrait located within the CDC PHGKB database

On Thanksgiving Day 2004, the U.S. Surgeon General launched a national public health campaign called the U.S. Surgeon General’s Family History Initiative. The campaign quickly became a yearly event to raise public awareness about the importance of family health history, and encourage all families to learn more about their health histories. The initiative also launched Read More >

Posted on by Muin J. Khoury, Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Laura Lyman Rodriguez, Division of Policy, Communications and Education, National Human Genome Research InstituteLeave a comment
Categories family history, genomics
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When Should You Be Screened for Colorectal Cancer?

DNA and a person with their colon shown

Starting at the right time saves lives. People with a family history of CRC may need to start much earlier. Doctors and public health professionals strive to live by the creed “First, do no harm” but often wrestle with difficult choices, including when and how often screening tests should be conducted. Effective prevention of colorectal Read More >

Posted on by Scott Bowen, Office of Public Health Genomics; Lisa Richardson, Division of Cancer Prevention and Control; and Muin J. Khoury, Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GeorgiaLeave a comment
Categories colorectal cancer, genomics, screening

What is the Value of Rapid Genomic Sequencing in Acute Infant Care?

sequencing with a double helix and a baby in the hospital

Rapid genomic sequencing includes both rapid genome sequencing (rGS) and rapid exome sequencing (rES). Proponents argue that next generation sequencing (NGS) in acutely ill infants can deliver timely diagnostic results and enable life-changing clinical interventions. An international group of experts recently published a white paper in Genetics in Medicine that made the following assertions: Demonstration Read More >

Posted on by Scott Grosse, National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention1 Comment
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