What is Public Health Genomics? A Day in the Invisible Life of Public Health Genomics

Public health usually works behind the scenes and many people aren’t even aware of public health programs. When you get sick you visit your doctor and get advice and treatment to make you feel better. Doctors and other medical professionals work to improve health one person at a time, but public health professionals focus on improving health at the population level through disease control and prevention. The new field of “public health genomics” is no exception. It focuses on public health policy and programs to make sure that genomic science is used effectively and responsibly to improve the health of all people. Public health genomics seeks to provide policy-makers and the public with unbiased information and services based on scientifically credible genetic information. To illustrate how public health genomics works behind the scenes, we will tell you a made-up story inspired by “A day in the life of public health” published by the El Paso County (Colorado) Department of Health and Environment. We want to make our readers aware of this new field and invite your feedback and comments.