EUPHA section on Public health genetics (PHG)  

President
Prof. Dr. Angela Brand MPH (President)
Director, German Center for Public Health Genetics (DZPHG)
University of Applied Sciences
Kurt Schumacher-Str. 6
D-33615 Bielefeld
angela.brand@uni-bielefeld.de

The Section on Public Health Genomics was established in 2005 and currently has about 70 members. The section aims to:

  • promote and strengthen research in the field of public health genomics
  • provide a platform for the exchange of information, experience and research in the field of public health genomics
  • to encourage joint activities in the field of public health genomics
  • to develop and promote strategies to influence national and European policy-making in the field of public health genomics

Activities
In 2006, various links between the section and other PHG relevant European as well as international networks and institutions have been established to gain sustainability in the field of PHG. Under these are links to PHGEN (Public Health Genomics European Network), GRaPH-Int (Genome-based Research and Population Health International Network), P3G (Public Population Project in Genomics), PHOEBE (Promoting Harmonisation Of Epidemiological Biobanks in Europe), EUnetHTA (European network for Health Technology Assessment), EuroGentest (Genetic Testing in Europe), Office of Genomics and Disease Prevention (CDC, Atlanta, USA), PHGU (Public Health Genetics Unit, Cambridge, UK), HumGen Canada and UK Biobank. With support of PHGEN National Task Forces (NTFs) on PHG have already been established in Turkey, Italy, and Belgium. Germany, Portugal, Greece, France, The Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden and Malta are currently preparing additional NTFs.

Members of the section have contributed to publications in various journals such as the European Journal of Public Health (EJPH), Genetics in Medicine and JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association). Special issues on PHG have been published in the  Italian Journal of Public Health (IJPH) and in Community Genetics (CG). In addition, members of the section have been experts for the OECD on the background paper on genetic testing (quality assurance guidelines).

Background information
Public health practice has to date concerned itself with environmental determinants of health and disease and has paid scant attention to genetic variations within the population. The advances brought about by genomics is changing these perceptions. Many predict, that this knowledge will enable health promotion messages and disease prevention programmes to be specifically directed at susceptible individuals or at subgroups of the population, based on their genetic profile. There will also follow a greater understanding of disease mechanisms, and in tandem with epidemiological studies, of how genetic variants interact with environmental and lifestyle factors to influence disease risk, onset and progression. There is widespread optimism that this knowledge will in time permit a more efficient and effective means of categorising, diagnosing and treating diseases and new approaches to their prevention.

Obviously, the integration of genomics into public health research, policy and practice will be one of the most important future challenges that our health care systems will face.

This knowledge and these technologies will have to be implemented in a responsible manner, having regard to all the evidence, if the goal of improving population health is to be achieved. The interaction between the development of new genome-based sciences and technologies and society is complex, with many important ethical, legal and social implications. The application of the methodologies and understanding of the population sciences and of the humanities and social sciences will need to be considered as well as the emerging biological knowledge. The development of an integrated knowledge base combining the insights of all these disciplines will be required to inform policy and to plan for the rational implementation of new healthcare services. Over the last years this enterprise has developed as a new field within public health, variously dubbed public health genetics or public health genomics . Integral to its activities is dialogue with all stakeholders in society, including industry, governments, health professionals and the general public.

The sheer volume and complexity of this emerging genomic knowledge, and the speed of technological development, are such that for Europe the goals of this enterprise can only be achieved by taking an integrated , interdisciplinary European with strong links to the international level.

  • Within the new programme of Community action in the field of public health (2003-2008) recently a European network on public health genetics (PHGEN) involving experts from the fields of genetics and public health as well as representatives of competent authorities from all EU Members States, Applicant Countries and EFTA-EEA countries got funded by the European Union, which will serve as an "European early detection unit" for horizon scanning, fact finding, and monitoring of genetic determinants relevant to public health and for identifying open questions regarding public health genetics (PHG).
  • The new international network GRAPH Int ( Genome-based Research and Population Health International Network) will provide an international forum for dialogue and collaboration, promoting a vision for public health genetics, based on the concept of genome-based knowledge for the benefit of population health. The EU-funded project PHGEN will represent the European part in this network (GRAPH Europe).
  • The Public Population Project in Genomics (P 3 G) is an international consortium dedicated to fostering collaboration between researchers and projects in the field of population genomics in order to provide statistical power for analysing complex genetic and environmental determinants of health and disease, to share approaches to ethics, public engagement, governance and intellectual property issues, to develop policies and strategies for effective translation of genetic data to health care systems, and to promote multidisciplinary training initiatives in population genomics research (to include biomedical, social, ethical, and public health aspects).