Information and Knowledge Management

Precision medicine incorporates an individual’s genetic blueprint alongside their lifestyle and environment. This data can be compared alongside data from thousands or even millions of others (i.e. big data) to predict illness or determine the best preventative strategies/treatments (Marr, 2015). Collected data may also be used to predict epidemics, develop new drugs, and cures for currently untreatable diseases.

Pharmacogenomics is the study of how genes affect a person’s response to particular drugs. This relatively new field combines pharmacology (the science of drugs) and genomics (the study of genes and their functions) to develop effective, safe medications and doses that are tailored to variations in a person’s genes.