GRaPH-Int
Encyclopedia
The Genome-based Research and Population Health International Network (GRaPH-Int) is an international collaboration of experts and researchers focused in the area of population health. The principal goal of the network is to promote the translation of genome
-based science and technology into improvements in population health
.
One of GRaPH-Int's key features is the integration of knowledge from a range of disciplines, such as genome-based science, population sciences, the humanities
and social sciences
. The ‘Int’ underscores the interdisciplinarity of the collaboration, but also signifies that it is international and integrated.
collaboration that facilitates the responsible and effective integration of genome-based knowledge and technologies into public policies, programmes, and services for improving population health
.
and molecular biology
, boosted by information emerging from the Human Genome Project
, offers new opportunities for the promotion of population health
. Anticipated benefits include more effective population-based public health disease prevention
and control activities; population screening
and predictive genetic testing
for common multi-factorial diseases; and targeted populations-based interventions
.
However, mining the genome-based information for potential benefits and ensuring that they are effectively implemented, with appropriate attention to avoiding harm, has proven to be an enormous task. A new field within public health, called public health genomics
has evolved which addresses these issues.
A meeting of experts was convened in Bellagio
Italy
in 2005 with funding from the Rockefeller Foundation
to address the tasks involved in deriving public health benefit from this vast array of new knowledge. The delegates saw the need for an international network, which would promote the goals of public health genomics. Based on discussions of the challenges involved, they developed the framework and priorities of the Genome-based Research and Population Health International Network (GRaPH-Int). The Bellagio group defined GRaPH-Int as a network of individuals who are interested in the impact of the interaction between genes and the environment on population health
Following the Bellagio meeting, The GRaPH-Int website was launched at the 4th International DNA Sampling Conference - Montreal, June 2006.
(GraPH-Int website) was developed and introduced at the Bellagio workshop as a conceptual and systematic description of the flow of information. It describes the process of translating genome-based science and technology into improvements in population health.
This search engine, referred to as the Bioportal (Bioportal website), will optimize searches on:
and is funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada
(PHAC). A major component of the Administrative Hub is the Secretariat (managed by the Centre de recherche en droit public (CRDP) ), whose services better enable PHAC, as the designated Administrative Hub for the network.
The Steering Committee elects the following Officers: Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, and Secretary. The Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, the past-Chairperson, Secretary, and the Executive Director constitute the Executive Committee. The founding executive committee members include:
Executive Director, PHG Foundation, Cambridge, UK
Director-General, Laboratory for Foodborne Zoonoses,
Office of Biotechnology, Genomics & Population Health
Public Health Agency of Canada, Ontario, Canada
Department of Medical History and Ethics
University of Washington, Seattle, USA
Genome
In modern molecular biology and genetics, the genome is the entirety of an organism's hereditary information. It is encoded either in DNA or, for many types of virus, in RNA. The genome includes both the genes and the non-coding sequences of the DNA/RNA....
-based science and technology into improvements in population health
Population health
Population health has been defined as “the health outcomes of a group of individuals, including the distribution of such outcomes within the group.” It is an approach to health that aims to improve the health of an entire population. One major step in achieving this aim is to reduce health...
.
One of GRaPH-Int's key features is the integration of knowledge from a range of disciplines, such as genome-based science, population sciences, the humanities
Humanities
The humanities are academic disciplines that study the human condition, using methods that are primarily analytical, critical, or speculative, as distinguished from the mainly empirical approaches of the natural sciences....
and social sciences
Social sciences
Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...
. The ‘Int’ underscores the interdisciplinarity of the collaboration, but also signifies that it is international and integrated.
Mission
The mission of the Genome-based Research and Population Health International Network (GRaPH-Int) is to promote an internationalInternational
----International mostly means something that involves more than one country. The term international as a word means involvement of, interaction between or encompassing more than one nation, or generally beyond national boundaries...
collaboration that facilitates the responsible and effective integration of genome-based knowledge and technologies into public policies, programmes, and services for improving population health
Population health
Population health has been defined as “the health outcomes of a group of individuals, including the distribution of such outcomes within the group.” It is an approach to health that aims to improve the health of an entire population. One major step in achieving this aim is to reduce health...
.
Bellagio Initiative
Modern research in geneticsGenetics
Genetics , a discipline of biology, is the science of genes, heredity, and variation in living organisms....
and molecular biology
Molecular biology
Molecular biology is the branch of biology that deals with the molecular basis of biological activity. This field overlaps with other areas of biology and chemistry, particularly genetics and biochemistry...
, boosted by information emerging from the Human Genome Project
Human Genome Project
The Human Genome Project is an international scientific research project with a primary goal of determining the sequence of chemical base pairs which make up DNA, and of identifying and mapping the approximately 20,000–25,000 genes of the human genome from both a physical and functional...
, offers new opportunities for the promotion of population health
Population health
Population health has been defined as “the health outcomes of a group of individuals, including the distribution of such outcomes within the group.” It is an approach to health that aims to improve the health of an entire population. One major step in achieving this aim is to reduce health...
. Anticipated benefits include more effective population-based public health disease prevention
Preventive medicine
Preventive medicine or preventive care refers to measures taken to prevent diseases, rather than curing them or treating their symptoms...
and control activities; population screening
Screening (medicine)
Screening, in medicine, is a strategy used in a population to detect a disease in individuals without signs or symptoms of that disease. Unlike what generally happens in medicine, screening tests are performed on persons without any clinical sign of disease....
and predictive genetic testing
Genetic testing
Genetic testing is among the newest and most sophisticated of techniques used to test for genetic disorders which involves direct examination of the DNA molecule itself. Other genetic tests include biochemical tests for such gene products as enzymes and other proteins and for microscopic...
for common multi-factorial diseases; and targeted populations-based interventions
Interventions
Interventions is a book by Noam Chomsky, an American linguist, MIT professor, and political activist. Published in May 2007, Interventions is a collection of 44 op-ed articles, post-9/11, from September 2002, through March 2007....
.
However, mining the genome-based information for potential benefits and ensuring that they are effectively implemented, with appropriate attention to avoiding harm, has proven to be an enormous task. A new field within public health, called public health genomics
Public Health Genomics
Public Health Genomics is the use of genomics information to benefit public health. This is visualized as more effective personalized preventive care and disease treatments with better specificity, targeted to the genetic makeup of each patient...
has evolved which addresses these issues.
A meeting of experts was convened in Bellagio
Bellagio
Bellagio is a comune in the Province of Como in the Italian region Lombardy, located on Lake Como. It has long been famous for its setting at the intersection of the three branches of the Y-shaped lake, which is also known as Lario....
Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in 2005 with funding from the Rockefeller Foundation
Rockefeller Foundation
The Rockefeller Foundation is a prominent philanthropic organization and private foundation based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The preeminent institution established by the six-generation Rockefeller family, it was founded by John D. Rockefeller , along with his son John D. Rockefeller, Jr...
to address the tasks involved in deriving public health benefit from this vast array of new knowledge. The delegates saw the need for an international network, which would promote the goals of public health genomics. Based on discussions of the challenges involved, they developed the framework and priorities of the Genome-based Research and Population Health International Network (GRaPH-Int). The Bellagio group defined GRaPH-Int as a network of individuals who are interested in the impact of the interaction between genes and the environment on population health
Following the Bellagio meeting, The GRaPH-Int website was launched at the 4th International DNA Sampling Conference - Montreal, June 2006.
Goals
GRaPH-Int aims to establish itself as an international network that promotes the goals of public health, engages international experts, and shares knowledge and resources. The following six goals have identified for the network:- To provide an international forum for dialogue and collaboration
- To promote relevant research
- To support the development of an integrated knowledge base
- To promote education and training
- To encourage communication and engagement with the public and other stakeholders
Enterprise
The GRaPH-Int EnterpriseEnterprise
Enterprise may refer to:-Economics and business:* A business* A company* Entrepreneurship, the practice of starting new organizations, particularly new businesses* Enterprise Architecture...
(GraPH-Int website) was developed and introduced at the Bellagio workshop as a conceptual and systematic description of the flow of information. It describes the process of translating genome-based science and technology into improvements in population health.
Bioportal
The recent overload of information on public health genome-based science necessitates the creation of an international search engine to link policymakers, researchers and public health professionals to national policy statements, epidemiological data, public health, news and events. GRaPH-Int has undertaken the task of developing this service, and the first phase of development began in 2007.This search engine, referred to as the Bioportal (Bioportal website), will optimize searches on:
- the ethical, legal and social issues surrounding public health genome-based science;
- public health genome-based literature;
- epidemiological data; and
- public health genome-based news and events.
Governance
GRaPH-Int and its activity are overseen by an Administrative Hub, Secretariat, Executive Committee and a Steering Committee.The Administrative Hub
The GRaPH-Int Administrative Hub is located in CanadaCanada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and is funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada
Public Health Agency of Canada
The Public Health Agency of Canada is an agency of the Government of Canada that is responsible for public health, emergency preparedness, and response and infectious and chronic disease control and prevention...
(PHAC). A major component of the Administrative Hub is the Secretariat (managed by the Centre de recherche en droit public (CRDP) ), whose services better enable PHAC, as the designated Administrative Hub for the network.
Executive committee
The purpose of the GRaPH-Int Executiv Committee is to provide leadership in fulfilling the mission and goals of GRaPH-Int. The founding Executive Committee members are Ron Zimmern, Public Health Genetics Unit (PHGU) now the PHG Foundation, Cambridge, UK, Wylie Burke, Institute for Public Health Genetics (IPHG) and Department of Medical History and Ethics, University of Washington, Seattle, U.S.A., Muin Khoury, National Office of Public Health Genomics (NOPHG), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, U.S.A., Mohamed Karmali, Laboratory for Foodborne Zoonoses, and Office of Biotechnology, Genomics & Population Health, Public Health Agency of Canada, and Professor Julian Little, Canada Research Chair in Human Genome Epidemiology, University of Ottawa.Steering committee
The purpose of the GRaPH-Int Steering Committee is to support the GRaPH-Int Executive Committee in their mission. The Steering Committee is composed of network participants in a mixture that will adequately represent the different institutional, scientific disciplines and perspectives necessary to address the mission and goals of GRaPH-Int. The Founder Chairman of the steering committee is Ron Zimmern.The Steering Committee elects the following Officers: Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, and Secretary. The Chairperson, Vice-Chairperson, the past-Chairperson, Secretary, and the Executive Director constitute the Executive Committee. The founding executive committee members include:
- Ron Zimmern, GRaPH-Int Interim Chair
Executive Director, PHG Foundation, Cambridge, UK
- Mohamed A. Karmali, GRaPH-Int Executive Director
Director-General, Laboratory for Foodborne Zoonoses,
Office of Biotechnology, Genomics & Population Health
Public Health Agency of Canada, Ontario, Canada
- Wylie Burke, Institute for Public Health Genetics (IPHG),
Department of Medical History and Ethics
University of Washington, Seattle, USA
- Muin Khoury, Director, National Office of Public Health Genomics, Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta, USA
- Julian Little, Canada Research Chair, University of OttawaUniversity of OttawaThe University of Ottawa is a bilingual, research-intensive, non-denominational, international university in Ottawa, Ontario. It is one of the oldest universities in Canada. It was originally established as the College of Bytown in 1848 by the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate...
, Ottawa, Canada
Founding organizations
The following entities are recognized as GraPH-Int Founding Organizations:- HumGenHumGenHumGen.org is the website of the Centre for Genomics and Policy, which is affiliated with McGill University and the in Canada. The Centre was launched to respond to the urgent need for informed public policy and analyses on socio-ethical issues related to human genetics research at the...
- HumGen International - Institute for Public Health Genetics, University of Washington
- National Office of Public Health Genomics, Centres for Disease Control
- PHG Foundation
- Public Health Agency of Canada