Applications of Precision Medicine in Public Health
Johns Hopkins University
Intersession 2016
AS.280.232
Date and time: 8.30am-11.00am, Monday –Friday, January 9th–13th
Location:Johns Hopkins University, Homewood Campus
Primary Instructor: Megan Roberts, PhD
Cancer Prevention Fellow, Behavioral Research Program
Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences, National Cancer Institute
Email: *
Office: 240-276-5878
SecondaryInstructor:Maryam Doroudi, PhD MPH
Cancer Prevention Fellow, Early Detection Branch
Division of Cancer Prevention, National Cancer Institute
Email: *
*Email is the preferred method of contact; students can expect an email response before the next class period.
Credit Hours: 1
Course Description
In 2015, President Obama announced the Precision Medicine Initiative, which seeks to “enable a new era of medicine in which researchers, providers and patients work together to develop individualized care.”While precision medicine has been incorporated into medicine for years, increased efforts to incorporate precision medicine will transform healthcare. This course will introduce students to the principles of precision medicine across the care continuum and will engage students to think critically about how precision medicine will change the medical and public health landscape. Students will learn the context of precision medicine through an introduction to the precision medicine initiative and the evolution of the precision medicine era. Students will examine current examples of precision medicine in prevention and early diagnosis, as well as treatment and disease surveillance. Finally, students willidentify the challenges to incorporating precision medicine into our health care system, and debate whether precision medicine objectives can complement those of public health. This course willemploy multiple formats to promote student learning and to introduce different tools for research. These may include lectures, invited speakers, case studies, in-class discussions, small group activities, and a debate. Active participation and peer learning will enhance the value of this course for students.
Core Learning Objectives
At the end of this course, students should be able to:
- Describe the Precision Medicine Initiative, announced by President Obama in 2015, including its components and goals.
- Understand the principles of precision medicine across the care continuum, including examples from:
- disease prevention (e.g., BRCA1/2 testing and the Angelina Jolie effect)
- diagnosis (e.g., newborn screening)
- treatment (e.g., tumor gene expression profiling for cancer, pharmacogenomics)
- surveillance and public health
- Identify and describe potential challenges of precision medicine in a fragmented health care system, including:
- implementation barriers
- health disparities
- health care costs
- Develop and discuss application of strategies that effectively intervene to mitigate challenges facing precision medicine.
- Debate whether the goals of precision medicine can align with the goals of public health.
Course Materials
Textbook: There is no required textbook for this course.
Additional Readings: To enhance understanding of the current state of cancer research, contemporary readings will be assigned. These may include journal articles, pieces from the scientific media, online resources, and short video tutorials. Please see syllabus for core materials; additional readings will be assigned by guest lecturers as appropriate.
All reading materials will be posted online prior to lectures, accompanied by a few short questions that students are encouraged to think about while exploring these materials. Students are expected to read all required materials prior to class; failure to contribute to discussion of these materials is likely to affect the participation grade.
Participation and Attendance
This is an interactive course; students are expected to participate fully in all discussions and group projects; this will be part of the course assessment. Students are also encouraged to ask questions and discuss concepts throughout each class. For these reasons, attendance is mandatory and both attendance and participation will be assessed as part of the course grade.
However, we do understand that sometimes unforeseen circumstances occur; for this reason, each student will be allowed up to one excused absence during the 1 week session without penalty. There will be no excused absences for class periods in which an assessment is given (quizzes and “hot topic discussions”). Make-up assignments will only be allowed in case of emergency; requests will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
Please email Dr.Roberts with advanced request for excused absences. In case of emergency, please call Dr. Roberts at her office (number listed above). As this is a short course that meets only 5 times, multiple absences could result in a failing grade.
Use of Smartphones/Cell Phones and Laptops
Unless being used as part of a class activity, the use of cell phones or smartphones during class is not permitted. Silence and store communication devices during class. Failure to follow this request may affect the participation grade. If you require using a laptop for taking notes, please contact Dr. Roberts.
Evaluation
Students will be evaluated based on class attendance, participation in group discussions, the oral presentation/debate, and 3 online quizzes. The evaluation breakdown is as follows:
Class attendance:8%
After the first excused absence, 2% will be deducted for each additional absence.
Class participation and small group activities:32%
Students will be assessed on their participation in both informal and small group discussions. For full credit, students should aim to make at least one substantive comment per discussion.
Quizzes: 30%
There will be a total of 3 15-minute quizzes, each worth 10 points. Quizzes will be given at the end of class (see schedule, below), and will comprise of a mix of multiple choice and short answer questions. Quizzes will not be cumulative, i.e., only material since the last quiz will be tested. These quizzes will be based on the reading assignments.
Class debates: 30%
Students will participate in a debate about whether precision medicine will enhance or harm current public health priorities. Each day, students will have time at the end of the class period to work within their debate groups. During the last class, students will lead a debate, with all students expected to contribute. A peer evaluation of other students’presentations will also be completed as part of the grade for this assignment. Further details will be available during the first class period.
While time will be given during class to prepare for these debates, students may expect to work on their presentations outside of class time as well.
Grading
Grades will be assigned as follows: 90% or higherA
80 - 90%B
70-80%C
60-70%D
60% or lowerF