Chapter 1 – Human genome epidemiology: the road map revisited

“The findings and conclusions in this book are those of the author(s) and do not
necessarily represent the views of the funding agency.”

These chapters were published with modifications by Oxford University Press (2010)

Muin J. Khoury, Sara R. Bedrosian, Marta Gwinn, Julian Little, Julian P. T. Higgins, and John P. A. Ioannidis

Table 1-1
Examples of emerging applications of human genome discoveries for clinical practice and disease prevention
Type of Application	Examples of Proposed Applications
Therapeutic agents	Herceptin in treatment of breast cancer
Diagnostic tests	BRCA analysis in hereditary breast and ovarian cancer
Pharmacogenomic tests	Genetic testing for warfarin treatment
Prognostic tests	Tumor gene expression profiles in various cancers
Screening tests	Biomarkers for early detection of ovarian cancer
Risk assessment tests	Genome profiles in breast and prostate cancer

Table 1-2
Human genome epidemiology and the phases of genomics translation: examples and application
Phase	Notation	Types of Research	Examples
T1	Discovery to candidate health application.	Phases 1 and 2 clinical trials; observational studies.	What is the magnitude of the association between genetic variants and disease risks? Is there gene-environment interaction?
T2	Health application to evidence-based practice guidelines.	Phase 3 clinical trials; observational studies; evidence synthesis and guidelines development.	What are the positive and negative predictive values of genetic factors in risk assessment?
T3	Practice guidelines to health practice.	Dissemination research; implementation research; diffusion research; Phase 4 clinical trials.	What proportion of individuals who meet guidelines criteria receive recommended care and what are the barriers to implementing practice guidelines?
T4	Practice to population health impact.	Outcomes research (includes many disciplines); population monitoring of morbidity, mortality, benefits and risks.	Does implementation of practice guidelines reduce disease incidence/improve outcomes?

Source: Adapted from Reference 28.
See Reference 28 for definition of terms.