[Public health genomics. The future is built today!]

The task of public health genomics (PHG) has become a challenge for all healthcare systems having major implications for future research and policy strategies. The various stakeholders in public health play a key role in translating the implications of genomics such as deriving from systems biology, epigenomics, integrative genomics or genome-environmental interactions. Recent advances in systems biology indicate that specific cellular functions are infrequently carried out by single genes, but rather by groups of cellular components. This network-based research is already starting to change nosology as well as to challenge population-based genetic screening or epidemiological methods like HTA. This knowledge will not only enable clinical interventions but also health promotion messages and disease prevention programs to be targeted at susceptible individuals as well as subgroups of the population (personalized healthcare). So far there has been no systematic integration of genome-based knowledge and technologies into public health research, policy, and practice. Thus, the public health agenda demands a vision that reaches beyond the research horizon to arrive at application and health impact of these innovations. The Public Health Genomics European Network (PHGEN) aims to fulfill this task in Europe.