Category: epidemiology

The Future of Epidemiology in the Age of Precision Medicine: Cancer, Cardiovascular Disease, and Beyond

NCI-NHLBI Blog Graphic NCI adn NHLBI Common Themes for the Future of Epidemiology: Leadership, Resources, Cohorts, Methods, Workforce, Integration, Evaluation

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 Muin J. Khoury M.D., Ph.D., Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Gina S. Wei, M.D., M.P.H., Division of Cardiovascular Sciences, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute1 Comment

Human Disease and Bad Luck: Acting on Genetic & Environmental Factors to Reduce Cancer Risk

a pair of die, DNA and a hand holding a globe with a tree inside wiht sequencing in the background

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 Muin J Khoury, Director, Office of Public Health Genomics and Lisa C. Richardson, Director, Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention1 Comment

100,000 Studies: A Milestone for Human Genome Epidemiology (HuGE) and the HuGE Navigator

a HUGE odometer with 100000 on it

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 by Marta Gwinn, Consultant, McKing Consulting Corp, Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and PreventionTags , , ,

Public Health Approach to Big Data in the Age of Genomics: How Can we Separate Signal from Noise?

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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 Muin J Khoury, Director, Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention1 CommentTags ,

Genetic Epidemiology: What a Difference 20 Years Can Make!

Manhattan_Plot

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

Now Watch This: Genomic Epidemiology

Staphylococcus aureus bacteria

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 >

Posted on by Marta Gwinn, Consultant, McKing Consulting Corp, Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control and PreventionTags ,