The success of precision medicine and All of Us Research requires a public health perspective

26 Jun The success of precision medicine and All of Us Research requires a public health perspective

“The new US precision medicine initiative, including the All of Us program, has been made possible by improvement and price reduction in genome sequencing, as well as advances in multiple sectors of biotechnology. The initiative includes two components: a focus on cancer intended to spur development of new targeted cancer treatments, and a proposal for establishing a national cohort of at least 1 million people to explore genetic and environmental determinants of health and disease. The success of All of Us requires a public health perspective to help ensure generalizability, assess methods of implementation, focus on prevention, and provide an appropriate balance between generation of long-term knowledge and short-term health gains.”

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Muin J. Khoury; James P. Evans. Public Health Perspective on a National Precision Medicine Cohort Balancing Long-term Knowledge Generation With Early Health Benefit. JAMA. 2015;313(21):2117-2118. doi:10.1001/jama.2015.3382