Mention precision medicine, and genomics quickly comes to the top of mind. While genomics and clinically oriented analysis are extremely valuable in implementing precision medicine as the next step in population health management, they are really only a small part of the big picture.
Increasingly, the value of environmental, social and lifestyle factors that live outside the medical system is also getting recognized in the effective implementation of personalized medicine in this country. The federal government’s Precision Medicine Initiative (PMI) that calls for $215 million in fiscal year 2016 to support research in this area focuses not just on genetics and biology, but also behavior and environment — “with the goal of developing more effective ways to prolong health and treat disease.”
HENRY KOTULA 