Category: population health
Population-based Genomic Screening Programs: The Need for Optimal Implementation to Ensure Health Equity

Population genomic screening of adults has emerged as a strategy to promote prevention of common diseases such as cancer and heart disease among persons with genetic conditions. This type of screening has the potential to identify millions of currently undetected people in the United States who are at risk of preventable diseases for which evidence-based Read More >
Posted on by Leave a commentFrom Genomics to Proteomics— What’s the Impact on Population Health?

Advances in genomic sequencing technology are transforming medical discovery, enabling researchers to conduct comprehensive explorations across whole genomes for individuals and populations. Genomics has led to valuable insights into the complex processes influencing health and disease. It has paved the way for studying how genes regulate the most basic functions of the cell, including what Read More >
Posted on by 1 CommentFrom the Genome to the Exposome: Mapping Causal Associations Between Environmental Factors and Population Health

Environmental factors such as lifestyle, diet, and exposure to toxins and chemical agents, can play an important role in our health. Complementary to the “genome,” which is the complete set of an individual’s genetic information, the “exposome” represents an individual’s complete set of environmental exposures throughout their lifetime. Coined in 2005, the “exposome” captures the Read More >
Posted on by Leave a commentPolygenic Risk Scores in Clinical Practice? Still Making the Case

Two recent systematic reviews show the lack of data on clinical utility of polygenic risk scores and major challenges in implementation. The Promise of Polygenic Risk Scores in Population Health Many common diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and heart disease, result from the combination of genetic factors and physical and social environmental factors. Genome-wide association Read More >
Posted on by Leave a commentApplications of Polygenic Risk Scores to Population Health: Where Are We?

An international multidisciplinary group of experts in genetics, law, ethics, behavioral sciences, and other fields reviews the state of science on polygenic scores and highlights risks and gaps before widespread use in practice. Polygenic risk scores (PRS) combine the small effects of many genes across the human genome to estimate the risk of a disease Read More >
Posted on by Leave a commentCan Predictive Analytics Drive Implementation Research to Improve Population Health?

To date, research investments have yielded many highly effective health interventions for disease prevention and treatment. Examples include smoking cessation, lipid and blood pressure control as well as diet and physical activity interventions. Yet, many interventions are not being optimally delivered to have public health impact. Implementation research can provide a means to determine optimal Read More >
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