| The Forest for the Trees: A Systems Approach to Human Health Research Julia M. Gohlke and Christopher J. Portier Environmental Systems Biology Group, Laboratory of Molecular Toxicology, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, USA Abstract
We explore the relationship between current research directions in human health and environmental and public health policy. Specifically, we suggest there is a link between the continuing emphasis in biomedical research on individualized, therapeutic solutions to human disease and the increased reliance on individual choice in response to environmental and/or public health threats. We suggest that continued research emphasis on these traditional approaches to the exclusion of other approaches will impede the discovery of important breakthroughs in human health research necessary to understand the emerging diseases of today. We recommend redirecting research programs to interdisciplinary and population-focused research that would support a systems approach to fully identifying the environmental factors that contribute to disease burden. Such an approach would be able to address the interactions between the social, ecological, and physical aspects of our environment and explicitly include these in the evaluation and management of health risks from environmental exposures. Key words: public health, risk assessment, systems biology. Environ Health Perspect 115:1261–1263 (2007) . doi:10.1289/ehp.10373 available via http://dx.doi.org/ [Online 28 June 2007]
Address correspondence to C. Portier, Laboratory of Molecular Toxicology, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, NC 27709 USA. Telephone: (919) 541-3484. Fax: (919) 541-1994. E-mail: portier@niehs.nih.gov We thank D. Crawford-Brown, C. Drew, M. Smith, R. Thomas, C. Corvalan, A. McMichael, G. Omenn, and J. Bucher as well as reviewers for many helpful comments. This research was supported by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health. The authors declare they have no competing financial interests. Received 17 April 2007 ; accepted 28 June 2007.
The full version of this article is available for free in HTML or PDF formats. |
