Category: COVID-19

mRNA COVID-19 Vaccines: An Incredible Feat of Genomic Technology

In December 2020, less than a year after the SARS-CoV-2 virus was identified, two COVID-19 vaccines manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna were approved for use in the United States under an Emergency Use Authorization by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Never has a U.S. vaccine been developed so quickly, and genome technology made Read More >

Posted on by Joanne Cono, W. David Dotson, Ridgely Fisk Green, and Muin J. Khoury, Office of Science, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention2 Comments
Categories genomics
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2020: A Challenging Year of Progress for Genomics and Precision Public Health

2020 with an arrow to 2021 with a double helix below and a COVID-19 virus and a masked family and under 2021 a person getting the COVID-19 vaccine

It is time to wrap up an eventful 2020 which unfortunately was dominated by the COVID-19 pandemic. From January 2020 through November 2020, we saw a major increase in visits to our website (> 2.6 million views, compared to 2 million views in 2019 and 1.2 million views in 2018). In our year end blog, Read More >

Posted on by Muin J. Khoury and Scott Bowen, Office of Genomics and Precision Public Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
Categories family history, genomics, public health
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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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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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Genetic Counseling in the Time of COVID-19

a hand magnifying DNA on COVID-19 with cellphones, tablets and laptops being connected by figures

Genetic counselors play an important role in clinical genetics by helping patients understand their genetic health risks. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most clinics and hospitals have restricted in-person delivery of non-essential healthcare services, including genetic counseling, to slow the spread of the virus. However, delaying genetic counseling can be problematic, for example, when genetic Read More >

Posted on by Katie Bruder, Genetic Counseling Training Program Class of 2020, 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 genetic counseling, genomics
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How Can Evidence Synthesis be Conducted at the Speed of a Pandemic?

COVID-19 and a person dealing with data

Since December, 2019, SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has rapidly spread around the world. The global pandemic has led to numerous scientific publications in basic, clinical and public health science and increased pressure to act on evidence as it emerges. Typically, research is done to inform decisions over time and is disseminated to the Read More >

Posted on by Caitlin G. Allen, W. David Dotson, Scott Bowen, Muin J. Khoury, Office of Genomics and Precision Public Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia
Categories genomics
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The Public Health Impact of COVID-19: Why Host Genomics?

covid-19 virus overlayed on whole genome sequencing with a world map in the background where figures are connected with lines

Throughout human history, zoonotic pandemics have periodically resulted in catastrophic human morbidity and mortality exceeding war, famine, and natural disasters combined. Modern era medicine and public health have made remarkable advances, but vulnerabilities have also increased with unprecedented world population growth, greater interaction with wildlife, and the dramatic expansion of international air travel. Viral diseases Read More >

Posted on by Muin J. Khoury, Office of Genomics and Precision Public Health, Office of Science, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia; Marta Gwinn, CFOL International for Office of Advanced Molecular Detection, National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Diseases, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia; Priya Duggal, Genetic Epidemiology Program, Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland1 Comment
Categories genomics, public health
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Using Digital Technologies in Precision Public Health: COVID-19 and Beyond

a hand holdign a cell phone with lots of data surrounding it including a coronavirus cell

With the global spread of COVID-19, there is a proliferation of scientific information and publications that use novel approaches such as genomics and precision health tools (e.g., big data, wearables, and digital devices) in surveillance and epidemiologic investigations. Could these new technologies provide added value to traditional approaches? In the past, we have written about Read More >

Posted on by Muin J. Khoury, Scott Bowen, Office of Genomics and Precision Public Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia; Paula Braun, Entrepreneur in Residence, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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