Genomics and Precision Health Blog – Archive Posts

Artificial Intelligence, Public Trust, and Public Health

robot

As a data-driven agency, CDC has always had highly skilled statisticians and data scientists. As part of the Data Modernization Initiative, CDC is supporting strategic innovations in data science using artificial intelligence and machine learning (Ai/ML). Ai/ML is the practice of using mathematics with computers to learn from a wide range of data and make Read More >

Posted on by Carlos Siordia PhD, Office of Science Fellow and Muin J. Khoury MD, PhD, Director, Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
Categories genomics, public health
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Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) versus the gonococcus: How CDC scientists are using WGS to beat antibiotic resistant gonorrhea

gonorrhea with a maginfying glass and DNA

Since 1995, when the first high-quality bacterial genome was completed using Sanger sequencing, the number of publicly available bacterial whole genome sequences (WGS) has grown exponentially, due to advances in next-generation (and now third generation) sequencing technology. The first bacteria sequenced using next-generation technologies included very few that cause sexually transmitted infections (STI) like Chlamydia trachomatis, Read More >

Posted on by Evonne Woodson and Brian Raphael, Laboratory Reference And Research Branch, Division of Sexually Transmitted Diseases Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
Categories genomics, whole genome sequence
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The Road Ahead for Genomics Research: From Technology to Population Health Impact

a long road paved with DNA and a person looking at data and groups of people with one person under a magnifying glass

We often reflect on the promise, progress and challenges in the translation of genomics research into population health benefits. A recent commentary in Nature Reviews Genetics featured 12 key scientific challenges and opportunities in the field. Leading scientists took stock of the current state of science and discussed needed research in the next few years Read More >

Posted on by Muin J. Khoury and W. David Dotson, Office of Genomics and Precision Public Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
Categories genomics

Barriers and Facilitators to Recruiting Study Participants in Host Genomic Studies

a Manhattan plot wiht COVID-19 virus

Host genomic studies play an important part in understanding disease susceptibility, severity, and outcomes. These studies require a minimum number of participants to ensure statistical power. Participation barriers and facilitators must be considered in order to effectively recruit a suitable number and diversity of eligible participants. The COVID-19 host genetics initiative aims to explain the Read More >

Posted on by Madison Dixon, MPH Student, Emory University School of Medicine, and Ridgely Fisk Green, Office of Genomics and Precision Public Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
Categories genomics
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Precision Public Health and the COVID-19 Response

crowd connected with each other and a person in the middle magnified by a magnifiying glass surrounded by coronavirus

This blog is a summary of our recent paper in the Journal of the American Association. The public health response to COVID-19 requires a mix of general and targeted public health interventions, i.e., precision public health. Precision public health uses data from traditional and emerging sources to target interventions for populations by person, place, and Read More >

Posted on by Sonja A. Rasmussen, Departments of Pediatrics, Obstetrics and Gynecology, and Epidemiology, University of Florida College of Medicine and College of Public Health and Health Professions, Gainesville, Florida; Muin J. Khoury, Office of Genomics and Precision Public Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia; Carlos del Rio, Department of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases, Emory University School of Medicine and Hubert Department of Global Health, Rollins School of Public Health, Atlanta, Georgia1 Comment
Categories genomics
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The Long Road to Population-based Genomic Screening

Since 2012, the CDC Office of Genomics and Precision Public Health (OGPPH) has identified three autosomal dominant conditions for which there exist evidence-based recommendations to prevent morbidity and mortality from either cancer or heart disease. Using our evidence-based framework, we have collectively labeled the following conditions as tier 1 genomic applications: 1) hereditary breast and Read More >

Posted on by Muin J. Khoury, Office of Genomics and Precision Public Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia and Michael F. Murray, Clinical director, Center for Genomic Medicine, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut3 Comments
Categories genomics, Population screening, screening

Beyond Tuberculosis: BCG Vaccine and Epigenetics

Tuberculosis (TB) infection is spread from person to person by respiratory droplets containing the bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This infection mainly affects the lungs and may be fatal if left untreated. TB remains a leading cause of death worldwide. In 1921, a live attenuated vaccine, called the BCG vaccine, was introduced to protect against TB. The Read More >

Posted on by Emily Drzymalla, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta GA and Marta Gwinn, CFOL International, Atlanta GA
Categories epigenetics, genomics
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Predictive Analytics, Implementation Science, Precision Medicine and Precision Public Health

twp figures looking at a wall of graphs depicting predicive analytics, a doctor with a stethoscope that has a magifying glass on a red figure surrounded by lots of other clusters of figures

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 Muin J. Khoury and George A. Mensah *
Categories precision medicine
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Toward More Precision in Implementation Science in the Age of COVID-19

Implementation Science with COVID-19

Implementation science (IS) is “the study of methods to promote the adoption and integration of evidence-based practices, interventions, and policies into routine health care and public health settings to improve the impact on population health.” The various factors that must be taken into consideration in designing, conducting, and evaluating IS studies dictate an inherent “precision” Read More >

Posted on by Mindy Clyne, David A Chambers, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute, Rockville, Maryland and Muin J. Khoury, Office of Genomics and Precision Public Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
Categories genomics
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From Precision Medicine to Precision Public Health: Beyond the Pandemic

the word Medicine with an arrow to the word Public Health and the word Precision over all of them with a background of connected people and several COVID-19 viruses

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 Muin J. Khoury, Office of Genomics and Precision Public Health, and Michael F. Iademarco, Center for Epidemiology, Surveillance and Laboratory Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
Categories precision medicine
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