Category: precision medicine
Precision Medicine in Action: How can we make cascade screening for hereditary conditions work best in the real world?

If someone in your family were diagnosed with a genetic condition, would you want to be tested for that condition as well? For some disorders, like Huntington’s disease, for which there are no means available for prevention or cure, the question can be extremely difficult to answer. However, with many other conditions (for example familial Read More >
Posted on by Leave a commentPredictive Analytics, Implementation Science, Precision Medicine and Precision Public Health

This blog is a summary of our recent paper based on a multidisciplinary workshop convened by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute to explore enhancement of predictive analytics for implementation research. The use of predictive analytics in precision medicine (the right intervention to the right patient at the right time) is well established. The Read More >
Posted on by Leave a commentFrom Precision Medicine to Precision Public Health: Beyond the Pandemic

Precision medicine and precision public health are emerging fields that use genomics and other big data technologies to provide more targeted interventions at the individual and population levels. Precision medicine can be thought of as delivering the right intervention to the right individual at the right time, while precision public health can be simply viewed Read More >
Posted on by Leave a commentA 2020 Reality Check on the Public Health Impact of Cancer Genomics and Precision Medicine

“Precision oncology has had some major successes… And yet, the overall effect of precision medicine on care for patients with cancer has been modest.” (David Cutler, JAMA Health Forum, 2020) The Promise of Genomics and Precision Medicine in Reducing the Burden of Cancer In 2015, the United States launched the Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI) “to Read More >
Posted on by Leave a commentPrecision Medicine Update: Important Progress on the Long Road from Discovery to Population Health Impact

Impressive Pace and Potential The All of Us Research Program is an ambitious United States initiative launched in 2015 to collect health-related information on one million or more volunteers from diverse communities. A recent paper in the New England Journal of Medicine described progress and lays out the vision for the initiative moving forward. As Read More >
Posted on by Leave a commentWhy should early career public health researchers pay attention to precision medicine?

In a recent commentary published in the American Journal of Public Health, I had the privilege of working with a group of early career investigators to begin a conversation about the impact that the debate between the utility of precision medicine and public health approaches is having as we begin our research careers. To begin, let’s Read More >
Posted on by Leave a commentPreventive medicine can be more precise and precision medicine can be more preventive!

In a recent JAMA viewpoint, Psaty and coauthors compare precision medicine and preventive medicine as two distinct models in medicine and public health. They use the example of hemophilia B to illustrate how new gene therapy can successfully target treatment with high specific-activity factor IX variant. They contrast this model of precision medicine with the Read More >
Posted on by 1 CommentCan Genetic Risk Scores Score a Win for Precision Prevention? Time and Rigorous Studies Will Tell

In May 2018, CDC’s Office of Public Health Genomics, the National Cancer Institute’s Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s Center for Translation Research and Implementation Science held a special webinar titled: “Using Genetic Risk Scores in the Prevention and Control of Common Diseases: Opportunities and Challenges.” Read More >
Posted on by Leave a commentEvaluating the Impact of Precision Medicine: How Ivacaftor Reduces Hospitalizations of Patients with Cystic Fibrosis

Precision medicine takes into account individual factors in treating disease, targeting interventions to patients that can benefit the most. Population-based studies evaluating precision medicine approaches are important to determine whether the field can fulfill its promise for improved health outcomes. A prime example of precision medicine is ivacaftor, a small molecule drug originally developed to Read More >
Posted on by Leave a commentPrecision Medicine in Action: How well does cascade screening for hereditary conditions work in the real world?

An important component of precision medicine is the identification, through genetic testing, of people who are at elevated risk of disease because of pathogenic germline mutations. Cascade screening involves contacting relatives of patients with certain hereditary conditions to help inform, manage, and identify those who may be at increased risk. A systematic scoping review on Read More >
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