Public Health Genomics
Advances in genome research have sparked discussions about new approaches to prevention and therapy. The scientific multidiscipline of public health can no longer ignore genomic advances, but has to grapple with the opportunities and risks of integrating genomic knowledge into public concern for the health of all. This discourse is conducted under the umbrella of Public Health Genomics .
According to a standard definition by an international committee of experts, Public Health Genomics is a company that deals with the responsible and effective transfer of genome-based knowledge and technologies for the benefit of population health (Bellagio Group on Public Health Genomics, 2005).
Public Health Genomics in Germany
The first institutionalized approach to dealing with questions of public health genomics took place in 2003/2004 in the cooperation group Public Health Genetics at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research (ZiF) at Bielefeld University under the direction of social medicine and public health researcher Angela Brand , MPH.
This was followed by the initiation of the European Public Health Genomics European Network (PHGEN) by the State Institute for Public Health Service NRW. This network is funded by the European Commission (DG SANCO). The aim is to discuss public health genomics approaches and their effects in Europe, to stimulate these discussions in the 31 member countries of PHGEN and to show the European Commission possible need for action and corridors of action.
In 2006 the German Center for Public Health Genomics (DZPHG) was founded at the Bielefeld University of Applied Sciences. This center works on the model of the Public Health Genetics Unit in Cambridge (UK) and the National Office of Public Health Genomics of the USA.
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- Report of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation (PDF; 1.1 MB)
- Special issue of the Federal Health Gazette , Volume 49, Number 10 / October 2006
- Genome-based Research and Population Health. Report of an expert workshop held at the Rockefeller Foundation Study and Conference Center, Bellagio, Italy, April 14-20, 2005.
- Brand A, Schröder P, Brand H, Zimmer R: Getting Ready for the Future: Integration of Genomics into Public Health Research, Policy and Practice in Europe and Globally. Community Genet 2006; 9: 67-71.
- Burke W, Khoury M, Stewart A, Zimmer R for the Bellagio Group: The path from genome-based research to population health: Development of an international public health genomics network. Genetics in Medicine 2006; 8 (7): 451-458.
- Khoury MJ: From Genes to Public Health: The Applications of Genetic Technology in Disease Prevention. On J Public Health 1996; 86 (12): 1717-1722.
- ten Kate LP: Editorial. Community Genet 1998; 1: 1-2.