Genomics and Precision Health Posts
The Appropriateness and Cost of Thrombophilia Panel Testing: It’s Complicated
Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and pulmonary embolism (PE) are two manifestations of venous thromboembolism (VTE), an underdiagnosed, serious, and sometimes-preventable medical condition that occurs when a blood clot forms in a deep vein (DVT) and subsequently breaks up and travels to the lungs (PE). DVT/PE is a serious public health problem [PDF 1.15 MB] affecting Read More >
Posted on by2016: The Year of Precision Public Health!
In our 2015 end-of-year blog post entitled: “Public health genomics 2015: Looking back, looking ahead”, we predicted that 2016 will feature a more in-depth exploration of “key concepts for the development of precision public health beyond genomics to include a variety of personal and environmental data for preventing disease and promoting health.” One year later, Read More >
Posted on by 1 CommentFrom One Hundred Thousand Genomes in the United Kingdom to Millions of Genomes in the United States: What Lessons Can we Learn?
In recent years, the United Kingdom (UK) has made a major commitment to developing a large scale population cohort study (100,000 genome project), linking high quality genomic sequence data to electronic health record information for the purposes of scientific discovery and clinical care improvement. The plan is for this project to continue well into the Read More >
Posted on byHappy Thanksgiving: Collect & Act on Your Family Health History
As you celebrate Thanksgiving with your family this November, remember that this special day is also National Family Health History Day. Family health history is important to your health and can help you detect unique disease risks and manage them before becoming sick, or find the right diagnosis and treatments when you have a certain Read More >
Posted on byTracking Translation of Human Genome Discoveries into Prevention and Control of Common Chronic Diseases: The Action is in Cancer!
Genomics seems to be everywhere these days. From the Human Genome Project to the Precision Medicine Initiative and from the Cancer Moonshot to breakthroughs in genome editing, we are overwhelmed with information about genomics. The hope and hype of discoveries are intermixed daily in published scientific articles and media coverage of how they might improve Read More >
Posted on byWhat Gets Measured Gets Done: Public Health Progress in Familial Hypercholesterolemia
Just 4 years ago, one of us (MJK) co-chaired the Familial Hypercholesterolemia (FH) Foundation’s first FH Global Summit: Awareness to Action held in Annapolis, Maryland. The Summit brought together people from academia, government, the private sector, clinicians, as well as patients with the ambitious goals of raising awareness of FH, identifying key knowledge gaps, and Read More >
Posted on by 1 CommentThe Cancer Moonshot, Hereditary Cancers and Population Genetic Screening
In September 2016, the Cancer Moonshot Blue Ribbon Panel delivered a report with 10 ambitious recommendations to shape cancer research for the next five years. One recommendation is to “expand use of proven prevention and early detection strategies.” [PDF 199 KB] There is a lot we can do to prevent cancer now— even with no Read More >
Posted on byPrecision Public Health: More Precision Ahead for Individual and Population Interventions
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 2 CommentsPrecision Medicine and Population Health: Dealing With the Elephant in the Room
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 2 CommentsFive Misconceptions About the Role of Genomics in Public Health
In a recent post, I reviewed the progress of genomics in public health over the past two decades and pondered on the lingering skepticism about genomics in the public health community. I propose that this skepticism is driven, at least in part, by 5 common misconceptions about the role of genomics in public health. In Read More >
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