Category: precision medicine

Preventive medicine can be more precise and precision medicine can be more preventive!

a person being magnified in a crowd with a magnifying glass and a doctor holding a stethoscope on the crowd with DNA

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 Muin J Khoury, Director, Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention1 Comment

Can Genetic Risk Scores Score a Win for Precision Prevention? Time and Rigorous Studies Will Tell

a person pointing to a bar graph trend and DNA

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 Muin J. Khoury, Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia; Debbie Winn, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, Maryland; George A. Mensah, Center for Translation Research and Implementation Science, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Bethesda, MarylandLeave a comment

Evaluating the Impact of Precision Medicine: How Ivacaftor Reduces Hospitalizations of Patients with Cystic Fibrosis

a blister pack of tablets and thee blue tablets out on the table

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 Ridgely Fisk Green, Office of Public Health Genomics and Scott Grosse, National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and PreventionLeave a commentTags ,

Precision Medicine in Action: How well does cascade screening for hereditary conditions work in the real world?

a pedrigree with DNA and crowds

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 >

Posted on by W. David Dotson, Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Megan C. Roberts, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute and Muin J. Khoury, Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and PreventionLeave a commentTags ,

Genomics and Precision Medicine: How Can Emerging Technologies Address Population Health Disparities? Join the Conversation.

different people standing on DNA in front of a world map

Advances in genome sequencing, other “omic” technologies, and big data promise a new era of personalized medicine. However, there is an ongoing discussion how these new technologies can be used to understand and address existing population health disparities. On October 11, 2017, the Precision Medicine and Population Health Interest Group in the Division of Cancer Read More >

Posted on by Wylie Burke, Professor Emeritus and former Chair, Department of Bioethics and Humanities, University of Washington, Charles Rotimi, Director, Center for Research on Genomics and Global Health, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes for Health, Debbie Winn, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, Vence Bonham and Michael Hahn, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes for Health, Muin J, Khoury, Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention1 CommentTags

Integrating genomics into population-based cancer surveillance in the era of precision medicine

individuals all over a map of the US with DNA and a magnifiying glass on one person

Population-based cancer surveillance provides a quantitative measurement of cancer occurrence in the United States and globally. Core activities of surveillance include measuring cancer incidence and characterizing each cancer with regard to histopathology, stage, and treatment in the context of survival. Cancer surveillance has been crucial in informing policy and practice, as well as clinical and Read More >

Posted on by Muin J. Khoury, Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia and Lynne Penberthy, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer InstituteLeave a commentTags ,

Genome Sequencing for Healthy Individuals? Think Big and Act Small!

a crowd of people with a magnifying glass on a few and DNA

In a 2013 blog post, we asked the question: “When should we all have our genomes sequenced?” At that time, we concluded that the time is not right and that “if we want to use whole genome sequencing in the course of regular preventive care and health promotion, research should be conducted to evaluate its Read More >

Posted on by Muin J. Khoury, Director, Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Greg Feero, guest blogger, Maine Dartmouth Family Medicine ResidencyLeave a commentTags ,

Precision Public Health: More Precision Ahead for Individual and Population Interventions

people holding a sign reading Medicine & Public Health with DNA

In August 2016, we published a point-counterpoint viewpoint asking a crucial question that has been on the minds of researchers, health care providers and the public health community: “will precision medicine improve population health?” We understood that we were tackling “the elephant in the room” and hoped for reactions to this viewpoint. We were pleased Read More >

Posted on by Muin J. Khoury, Director, Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, and Sandro Galea, Dean, School of Public Health, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts2 CommentsTags ,

Precision Medicine and Population Health: Dealing With the Elephant in the Room

a elephant in a room with a crowd on one side and doctors on the other side including DNA above on the wall

In this week’s Journal of American Medical Association, we published a point-counterpoint commentary on the impact of precision medicine on population health. Announcement of the news of the US precision medicine initiative has been met with a range of responses from enthusiasm to skepticism about potential benefits, limitations and return on investment. In considering the Read More >

Posted on by Muin J. Khoury, Director, Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, and Sandro Galea, Dean, School of Public Health, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts2 CommentsTags

The Shift From Personalized Medicine to Precision Medicine and Precision Public Health: Words Matter!

crowd with on figure standing out and DNA on the top

Advances in genomics and other ‘omic’ technologies have ushered in a new era variably called “personalized” or “precision” medicine, which takes into account individual genetic and other sources of variability in disease treatment and prevention. In the past decade, we have seen a significant growth in interest and usage of the terms personalized and precision Read More >

Posted on by Muin J Khoury, Director, Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention1 Comment