PRECISION ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH: WHAT IS IT? CAN WE GET THERE?

The interaction of the environment and human health has largely been the purview of epidemiology research, grounded in cellular and animal mechanistic studies, leading to important public health initiatives. Individualized treatment based on genomic risk (Precision Medicine) is already having a strong impact in clinical care, particularly in oncology. While the environment has a far greater effect on individual health than genetics, less focus has been placed on integrating environmental science into clinical medicine. Precision Environmental Health is emerging to fill this gap along with the rapidly expanding field of exposomics. The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Precision Environment and Genes Study (PEGS) is providing data and methodologies to integrate the environment, genetics, health, and disease and is serving as a prototype for similar integration in larger studies. Such information will facilitate the integration of Precision Environmental Health into academic education and, most importantly, into clinical practice.