Precision Public Health is a new and rapidly evolving field, that examines the application of new technologies to public health policy and practice. It draws on a broad range of disciplines including genomics, spatial data, data linkage, epidemiology, health informatics, big data, predictive analytics and communications. The hope is that these new technologies will strengthen preventive health, improve access to health care, and reach disadvantaged populations in all areas of the world. But what are the downsides and what are the risks, and how can we ensure the benefits flow to those population groups most in need, rather than simply to those individuals who can afford to pay? This is the first collection of theoretical frameworks, analyses of empirical data, and case studies to be assembled on this topic, published to stimulate debate and promote collaborative work.

Today we are on the brink of a much-needed transformative moment for health care. The U.S. health care system is designed to be reactive instead of preventive. The result is diagnoses that are too late and outcomes that are far worse than our level of spending should deliver. In recent years, U.S. life expectancy has been declining. Fundamental to realizing better health, and a more effective health care system, is advancing the disruptive thinking that has spawned innovation in Silicon Valley and throughout the world. That's exactly what Stanford Medicine has done by proposing a new vision for health and health care. In Discovering Precision Health, Lloyd Minor and Matthew Rees describe a holistic approach that will set health care on the right track: keep people healthy by preventing disease before it starts and personalize the treatment of individuals precisely, based on their specific profile. With descriptions of the pioneering work undertaken at Stanford Medicine, complemented by fascinating case studies of innovations from entities including the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, GRAIL, and Impossible Foods, Minor and Rees present a dynamic vision for the future of individual health and health care. Youll see how tools from smartphone technology to genome sequencing to routine blood tests are helping avert illness and promote health. And you'll learn about the promising progress already underway in bringing greater precision to the process of predicting, preventing, and treating a range of conditions, including allergies, mental illness, preterm birth, cancer, stroke, and autism. The book highlights how biomedical advances are dramatically improving our ability to treat and cure complex diseases, while emphasizing the need to devote more attention to social, behavioral, and environmental factors that are often the primary determinants of health. The authors explore thought-provoking topics including: The unlikely role of Google Glass in treating autism How gene editing can advance precision in treating disease What medicine can learn from aviation liHow digital tools can contribute to health and innovation Discovering Precision Health showcases entirely new ways of thinking about health and health care and can help empower us to lead healthier lives.

When Bechara Choucair was a young doctor, he learned an important lesson: treating a patient for hypothermia does little good if she has to spend the next night out in the freezing cold. As health commissioner of Chicago, he was determined to address the societal causes of disease and focus the city’s resources on its most vulnerable populations. That targeted approach has led to dramatic successes, such as lowering rates of smoking, teen pregnancy, breast cancer mortalities, and other serious ills. In Precision Community Health, Choucair shows how those successes can be replicated and expanded around the country. The key is to use advanced technologies to identify which populations are most at risk for specific health threats and avert crises before they begin. Big data makes precision community health possible. But in our increasingly complex world, we also need new strategies for developing effective coalitions, media campaigns, and policies. This book showcases four innovations that move public health departments away from simply dispensing medical care and toward supporting communities to achieve true well-being. The approach Choucair pioneered in Chicago requires broadening our thinking about what constitutes public health. It is not simply about access to a doctor, but access to decent housing, jobs, parks, food, and social support. It also means acknowledging that a one-size-fits-all strategy may exacerbate inequities. By focusing on those most in need, we create an agenda that is simultaneously more impactful and more achievable. The result is a wholesale change in the way public health is practiced and in the well-being of all our communities.

Motivated by the explosion of molecular data on humans-particularly data associated with individual patients-and the sense that there are large, as-yet-untapped opportunities to use this data to improve health outcomes, Toward Precision Medicine explores the feasibility and need for "a new taxonomy of human disease based on molecular biology" and develops a potential framework for creating one. The book says that a new data network that integrates emerging research on the molecular makeup of diseases with clinical data on individual patients could drive the development of a more accurate classification of diseases and ultimately enhance diagnosis and treatment. The "new taxonomy" that emerges would define diseases by their underlying molecular causes and other factors in addition to their traditional physical signs and symptoms. The book adds that the new data network could also improve biomedical research by enabling scientists to access patients' information during treatment while still protecting their rights. This would allow the marriage of molecular research and clinical data at the point of care, as opposed to research information continuing to reside primarily in academia. Toward Precision Medicine notes that moving toward individualized medicine requires that researchers and health care providers have access to very large sets of health- and disease-related data linked to individual patients. These data are also critical for developing the information commons, the knowledge network of disease, and ultimately the new taxonomy.

Personalized and precision medicine (PPM)—the targeting of therapies according to an individual’s genetic, environmental, or lifestyle characteristics—is becoming an increasingly important approach in health care treatment and prevention. The advancement of PPM is a challenge in traditional clinical, reimbursement, and regulatory landscapes because it is costly to develop and introduces a wide range of scientific, clinical, ethical, and socioeconomic issues. PPM raises a multitude of economic issues, including how information on accurate diagnosis and treatment success will be disseminated and who will bear the cost; changes to physician training to incorporate genetics, probability and statistics, and economic considerations; questions about whether the benefits of PPM will be confined to developed countries or will diffuse to emerging economies with less developed health care systems; the effects of patient heterogeneity on cost-effectiveness analysis; and opportunities for PPM’s growth beyond treatment of acute illness, such as prevention and reversal of chronic conditions. This volume explores the intersection of the scientific, clinical, and economic factors affecting the development of PPM, including its effects on the drug pipeline, on reimbursement of PPM diagnostics and treatments, and on funding of the requisite underlying research; and it examines recent empirical applications of PPM.

Precision Medicine for Investigators, Practitioners and Providers addresses the needs of investigators by covering the topic as an umbrella concept, from new drug trials to wearable diagnostic devices, and from pediatrics to psychiatry in a manner that is up-to-date and authoritative. Sections include broad coverage of concerning disease groups and ancillary information about techniques, resources and consequences. Moreover, each chapter follows a structured blueprint, so that multiple, essential items are not overlooked. Instead of simply concentrating on a limited number of extensive and pedantic coverages, scholarly diagrams are also included. Provides a three-pronged approach to precision medicine that is focused on investigators, practitioners and healthcare providers Covers disease groups and ancillary information about techniques, resources and consequences Follows a structured blueprint, ensuring essential chapters items are not overlooked