Genomics and Precision Health Blog – Archive Posts

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

Implementing Genomics-Based Screening Programs for Healthy Adults: A Proposed Evidence-based Approach from the Genomics and Population Health Action Collaborative

A Proposed Approach for Implementing Genomics-Based Screening Programs for Healthy Adults - A National Academy of Medicine Discussion Paper nam.edu/Perspectives with an image of DNA

The following report was developed by the Genomics and Population Health Action Collaborative (GPHAC) as a potential roadmap for groups planning to carry out projects involving genomics-based screening programs in the healthy adult populations. The report is available in its entirety on the National Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine website. The advent of next Read More >

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

Happy Thanksgiving 2018: Protect your family’s health by using My Family Health Portrait to collect and share your family health history

a multigenerational familly eating a thanksgiving meal and a picture of DNA is hanging on the wall

Happy Thanksgiving Day! It is time to send our yearly message on the importance of family health history to your own health. Every year we emphasize a slightly different version of this message. In 2017, we highlighted the simple fact that even in the age of genomics and precision medicine, family health history remains as Read More >

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

Contributions of Public Health in Reducing the Population Burden of Familial Hypercholesterolemia: Challenges and Opportunities

In October 2018, we attended the fifth annual Global Familial Hypercholesterolemia (FH) Summit. This gathering of more than 300 people from over 30 countries included patients, researchers, government organizations, practitioners, health systems, implementation science experts, and industry. The event focused on methods for accelerating uptake of evidence into clinical practice and health policy. The event Read More >

Posted on by Muin J. Khoury, Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia; George A. Mensah, Center for Translation Research and Implementation Science, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, Bethesda, Maryland1 CommentTags ,

Perspectives from a state genetics coordinator: Public health’s role in addressing familial hypercholesterolemia (FH) in the United States

a body with exposed heart and an artery with cholesterol and a pedigree in the background

For several years I have pondered what should or could be the state public health agency role in addressing FH. Most of my public health genetics colleagues were actively working on other CDC-labeled tier 1 conditions, such as Lynch syndrome (LS) and Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer syndrome (HBOC). While few, if any, of my Read More >

Posted on by Debra Lochner Doyle, Guest Blogger, State Genetics Coordinator, Washington State Department of Health, Kent, WashingtonTags ,

2018 Yearlong Seminar Series in Public Health Genomics

Genomics Seminar Series 2018

Advances in genomics, bioinformatics and other technologies are ushering a new era of precision medicine and precision public health. Human genome sequencing is increasingly used in a variety of health systems in the United States and globally. Pathogen genomic sequencing is been rapidly integrated into clinical and public health research and practice. 2018 marked 20 Read More >

Posted on by Ridgely Fisk Green and Muin J. Khoury, Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia1 CommentTags

Introducing GRANTOMICS: Our enhanced search engine and analysis tool for grant information associated with publications on genomics and population health impact.

screenshot of the GRANTOMICS database within PHGKB

The CDC Office of Public Health Genomics has launched GRANTOMICS, an extension of the Public Health Genomics Knowledge Base (PHGKB). GRANTOMICS is an upgraded version of the Grant Database, introduced in March, 2018, and reviewed in a previous blog. The upgraded GRANTOMICS database allows you to: Perform searches with any free text word or term, Read More >

Posted on by Wei Yu, Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Mindy Clyne, Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences and Muin J. Khoury, Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia1 CommentTags , , ,

The Road Less Traveled: Genomic Epidemiology Capacity in State Public Health Programs

a road not traveled much with sequencing

In 2017, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) published its latest Epidemiology Capacity Assessment of state health departments’ workforce size and resources. The assessment inquired about the number of current and optimal epidemiologist positions; sources of epidemiology activity and funding; and states’ self-perceived capacity to lead epidemiology activities, provide expertise, and manage resources Read More >

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