Medicina Personalizada e Saúde Digital

Objectives

Learning outcomes of the curricular unit

1.    Explore the scientific basis of genomics and other –omics, recognize its interaction with the digital revolution and identify its growing influence on the different dimensions of healthcare;

2.    Recognize the state of the art of precision medicine applications in terms of health promotion, disease prevention, diagnostics and therapies. 

3.    Analyze and discuss the main ethical, legal and social implications of precision medicine and digital health. Particularly, challenges to informed consent, privacy, property of biological materials and health information, literacy, equity and the principle of non discrimination;

4.    Recognize novel healthcare markets and identify areas of intersection between public health, precision medicine and digital health such as e Health and mHealth, genomic screening programs, direct to consumer genomic tests, gene therapy and applications of different omics in the fight against infectious diseases;

5.     Identify and debate new challenges for health systems e public health in a new era emerging from the genomic and digital revolutions.  

General characterization

Code

9588

Credits

4.0

Responsible teacher

João Miguel Valente Cordeiro

Hours

Weekly - Available soon

Total - 22

Teaching language

Português

Prerequisites

Requirements for frequency

University degree;

Good english language proficiency.

Bibliography

Bibliography

Topol, E. J. (2014). Individualized Medicine from Prewomb to Tomb. Cell, 157(1), 241–253. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2014.02.012

Green, E. D., Guyer, M. S., National Human Genome Research Institute. (2011). Charting a course for genomic medicine from base pairs to bedside. Nature, 470(7333), 204–213. doi:10.1038/nature09764

Meskó, B. (2015). My Health: Upgraded: Revolutionary Technologies To Bring A Healthier Future. Ed: Cytowic, R.E. Webicina Kft. ISBN: 978-615-80261-0-9

Cordeiro, J. V. (2014) Ethical and legal challenges of personalized medicine: paradigmatic examples of research, prevention, diagnosis and treatment. Revista Portuguesa de Saúde Pública. Submitted.

Passarge, E. (2012). Color Atlas of Genetics (4 ed.). Thieme Medical Publisher

Teaching method

Teaching methodologies (including evaluation) 

Teaching methodologies will be adapted to the nature of the different Curricular Unit (CU) subjects. The adopted teaching methodology for contents 1, 2 and 3 will consist mainly on lectures. In the case of contents 5 and 7, the teaching methodology will combine lectures with the critical analysis and discussion of practical cases, which will include presentations from students. The CU includes two conferences by specialized faculty on the subjects of clinical genomics and health markets that will contribute to contents 3, 4 and 6. The CU also includes two practical sessions of analysis and discussion of relevant publications that will contribute to potentiate the discursive capacity of students and strengthen the various contents, with particular focus on contents 5, 7 and 8.

Evaluation will be performed as follows:

Student in class participation and case analysis and presentation (20%);

Final written essay (80%).

Evaluation method

Available soon

Subject matter

Syllabus 

1.     Fundamentals and historic hallmarks of genetics and genomics;

2.     The Human Genome Project – main characteristics and global impact;

3.     Genomic science and technology: research, risk prediction, diagnosis and disease treatment (genetic tests, pharmacogenomics and gene therapy);

4.     Impact of the digital revolution in healthcare and public health – mHealth, eHealth, wearables, AI and other emerging technologies;

5.     Ethical, legal and social implications of personalized medicine – challenges to informed consent, private life, property over biological materials and the principle of non discrimination;

6.     Personalized medicine and new health care markets;

7.     Intersection between personalized medicine and public health (newborn, child and adult genetic screening, direct to consumer genetic testing, genomics and infectious disease);

The fundamental role of public health in a new era of individualized health care.