Category: epidemiology
The Future of Epidemiology in the Age of Precision Medicine: Cancer, Cardiovascular Disease, and Beyond
We live in the era of “Big Data.” Evaluating the health impact of large scale biological, social, and environmental data is an emerging challenge. Epidemiology, the study of the distribution and determinants of human disease in populations, is a foundational science of public health and provides important insights for medical practice and disease prevention. Epidemiology has Read More >
Posted on by 1 CommentHuman Disease and Bad Luck: Acting on Genetic & Environmental Factors to Reduce Cancer Risk
In January 2015, a paper in Science created a “buzz” in the scientific community and the media. Based on statistical modelling, the authors suggested that “only a third of the variation in cancer risk among tissues is attributable to environmental factors or inherited predispositions. The majority is due to ‘bad luck,’ that is, random mutations Read More >
Posted on by 1 Comment100,000 Studies: A Milestone for Human Genome Epidemiology (HuGE) and the HuGE Navigator
The HuGE published literature database now contains more than 100,000 citations, a milestone reached at the end of 2014. The Office of Public Health Genomics has compiled this database since 2001 via weekly systematic sweeps of PubMed performed by a single curator. For the first five years, a complex PubMed query was used to identify Read More >
Posted on byPublic Health Approach to Big Data in the Age of Genomics: How Can we Separate Signal from Noise?
The term Big Data is used to describe massive volumes of both structured and unstructured data that is so large and complex it is difficult to process and analyze. Examples of big data include the following: diagnostic medical imaging, DNA sequencing and other molecular technologies, environmental exposures, behavioral factors, financial transactions, geographic information & social Read More >
Posted on by 1 CommentGenetic Epidemiology: What a Difference 20 Years Can Make!
In my introduction to the textbook ”Genetic Epidemiology: Methods and Applications” just published by Dr. Melissa Austin and colleagues, I commented on the remarkable evolution of the field in the 20 years since I wrote “Fundamentals of Genetic Epidemiology” with Drs. Bernice Cohen and Terri Beaty from Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health. Read More >
Posted on byNow Watch This: Genomic Epidemiology
Late last year, Science magazine published a list of six Areas to Watch in 2012. Number 6 on the list, NASA’s Curiosity rover, recently touched down on Mars. The Higgs boson (#1) has been found, faster-than-light neutrinos (#2) have been debunked, and further developments on stem-cell metabolism (#3) and treatments for intellectual disability (#5) are Read More >
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