Genomics and Precision Health Blog – Archive Posts

Time to Keep a Smart Watch on Precision Health

an arm with a smart watch and a heartbeat drawn on the arm

A Science-Based Vision for the Wearable Revolution It is 2022, Juan, 45 years old, is thrilled to purchase a new smartwatch he can afford because it is offered at a discount through a special program with his employer. Juan plans to track his physical activity, heart rate, diet, and sleep. Under the program, Juan also Read More >

Posted on by Scott Bowen and Muin J. Khoury, Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia; George A. Mensah, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland2 CommentsTags

Research on the Behavioral Impact of Polygenic Risk Scores: The Train Has Already Left the Station!

a Polygenic Risk Scores with a train leaving the station

There has been a lot of discussion recently about the new generation of polygenic risk scores (information about a person’s disease risk based on many dozens, hundreds, thousands, or even millions of common DNA variants in their genome), and whether these new-and-improved genetic risk scores are going to turn out to be useful for disease Read More >

Posted on by Saskia Sanderson, Guest Blogger, University College London Institute of Health Informatics, London, United Kingdom and Muin J. Khoury, Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GeorgiaTags

Introducing the Rare Diseases Genomics and Precision Health Knowledge Base

a black swan in a sea of white swans and DNA

For the past three years, The CDC Public Health Genomics Knowledge Base (PHGKB) has been tracking the public health impact of advances in genomics and precision technologies. Every day, we provide new information and publications for researchers, health care providers, policy makers, and the general public. We also offer access to the latest epidemiologic and Read More >

Posted on by Muin J. Khoury and Wei Yu, Office of Public Health Genomics. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention2 CommentsTags

How Genetic Counselors are Dealing with Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing

a genetic counselor talking to a client with DNA in the background

After receiving ancestry information from a direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing company, Ellen Matloff, a certified genetic counselor and frequent writer about the limitations of DTC tests, downloaded her raw data file from their website for interpretation by a third party service. She was shocked to see that her raw data included a variant for Lynch Read More >

Posted on by Suzy Cahn, Guest Blogger, Genetic Counseling Training Program Class of 2019, Emory University School of Medicine and Ridgely Fisk Green, Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Introducing “Precision” to the CDC Genomics and Health Impact Update and the Public Health Genomics Knowledge Base

a world map with a GPS, cell phone and DNA and people

For many years, the CDC Office of Public Health Genomics has published the Genomics and Health Impact Weekly Update with the latest information and publications about the real-world impact of genomics on medicine and public health. More recently, we added a second feature to our weekly update, the Advanced Molecular Detection (AMD) Clips, highlighting the Read More >

Posted on by Muin J. Khoury, Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Tags ,

Public Health Genomics: What’s Next?

a figure looking at a sign labeled Public Health Genomics with an arrow going to another sign labeled Precision Public Health and a double helix in the background

In the 1990’s, the excitement surrounding the Human Genome Project led the public health community to plan for the future role of genomics in health care and disease prevention. The field of public health genomics was launched to identify opportunities for the new science to impact health, inform public health programs and health care providers Read More >

Posted on by Muin J. Khoury, Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia

Let’s not get too excited about genome sequencing of healthy newborns. Here’s why!

Newborn screening (NBS) is the largest public health genetics program around the world.  Each year in the United States, thousands of babies are saved from lifelong disability and death by timely diagnosis and treatment. While most newborns are screened with biochemical tests that use drops of blood from a heel prick, new advances in genome Read More >

Posted on by Scott D. Grosse, National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, Jeffrey R. Botkin, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, and Muin J. Khoury, Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia1 Comment

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

Your Top 10 Public Health Genomics Knowledge Base Searches in 2018!

Top 10 2018 on building blocks

Genetic counseling, Alzheimer’s disease, and personal genomics top the list. Top 2018 PHGKB Search Terms Genetic counseling Alzheimer’s disease Personal Genomics Autism Disparities Nutrigenomics Familial Hypercholesterolemia Precision Public Health Precision Medicine Rare Diseases Recently, USA Today revealed 2018’s most popular Google search terms with (the) “World Cup” topping the list. Aptly named, the event, taking Read More >

Posted on by Scott Bowen and Muin J. Khoury, Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia

Satisfying Popular Curiosity: What Is Genetic Counseling?

a crowd asking What is Genetic Counseling with a double helix

As 2018 comes to a close and the data comes rolling in, it can officially be said that “genetic counseling” was the most popular search term in the Public Health Genomics Knowledge Base (PHGKB). Genetic counseling is one of the fastest growing careers in the country, with a growth rate of 29% since 2016, according Read More >

Posted on by Georgia Loucopoulos, Guest Blogger, Genetic Counseling Training Program Class of 2019, Emory University School of Medicine