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Precision Public Health: Reconciling Biological and Social Determinants of Health
On June 6-7, 2016, I had the honor of participating in the “Precision Public Health” summit hosted by the Gates Foundation and the White House Office of Science and Technology at the University of California in San Francisco. The summit focused on developing a global “precision” agenda to improve health and prevent death and disease
Posted on by 1 CommentThe Shift From Personalized Medicine to Precision Medicine and Precision Public Health: Words Matter!
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
Posted on by 1 CommentNewborn screening for severe combined immune deficiency (SCID) saves lives and money: a cost-effective public health policy
Severe combined immune deficiency (SCID), also known as “bubble boy disease,” is a rare inherited disorder of the immune system that leads to recurrent severe infections. In the absence of effective treatment, SCID is usually fatal within the first 2 years of life. Treatment by hematopoietic cell transplantation can minimize the devastating effects of SCID,
Posted on byDirect-to-Consumer Genetic Testing and Public Health Education
We have previously blogged about the value (or lack thereof) of direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic tests in improving health. In a 2011 blog entitled “think before you spit” we cautioned that there was very little evidence that the use of such tests improves health and prevents disease for healthy people in the population. The blog was
Posted on byPrecision Medicine vs. Public Health: a False Dichotomy?
The recent focus on precision medicine has attracted criticism from the public health community that firmly believes that health is determined by far more than health care, and that more sophisticated medical technologies may not adequately address important determinants of population health. There is no argument that a focus on the wider environmental, structural and
Posted on byInfectious Diseases: Precision Medicine for Public Health
Until now, most medical treatments have been designed for the “average patient.” As a result of this “one-size-fits-all” approach, treatments can be very successful for some patients but not for others. Precision Medicine, on the other hand, is an innovative approach that takes into account individual differences in people’s genes, environments, and lifestyles. The Precision
Posted on byPrecision Medicine, Implementation Science and Public Health: How Do We Scale Up From 1 Million to 300 Million?
Planning for the 2015 Presidential Precision Medicine Initiative is in full swing. After the initial announcement in January 2015, several workshops were held to help in design and execution of the longitudinal cohort study of 1 million persons. The workshops covered important topics including a Building a Precision Medicine Research Cohort, Scientific Opportunities, Digital Health Data,
Posted on by 1 CommentPrecision Medicine and Public Health: Improving Health Now While Generating New Knowledge for the Future
In a previous post, I commented on the importance of a public health perspective to ensure the success of the proposed precision medicine large national research cohort. Here I offer additional thoughts on the need to balance short term public health gains with long term knowledge generation from this effort.
Posted on byPrecision Public Health and Precision Medicine: Two Peas in a Pod
The 2015 US Precision Medicine Initiative promises a new era of biomedical research and its application in health care. The initiative is enabled by rapid advances in biomedical sciences, including genomics and bioinformatics, as well as the progress in communication, information technologies and data science. Targeted cancer therapies are a near term goal for
Posted on byThe Success of Precision Medicine Requires a Public Health Perspective
The announcement of a new major US Precision Medicine initiative comes more than a decade after the completion of the Human Genome Project, the ambitious project that culminated in sequencing all 3 billion base pairs of our genome. Continuous improvement in the quality of sequencing, dramatic reduction in price, and ongoing advances in multiple sectors
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