Preventing Diseases with Personalised Treatments

​The Personalised Health research programme focuses on the application of genome and other personal health data in maintaining and promoting individual health and in preventing and treating diseases.

The programme is centred on the concept of personalised health, which is based on the analysis of genetic and other information collected from individuals to prevent diseases, promote health and provide personalised  treatment for illnesses.

The Personalised Health – From Genes to Society (pHealth) Academy Programme investigates how diseases are formed on the molecular level, finds ways to predict and prevent them, and examines how their treatment should be directed. The programme also looks into the technical, judicial, ethical, social, and societal aspects and effects of collecting and recording this information.

The University of Turku received funding for three research projects. The project coordinated by Professor Riitta Lahesmaa searches for new ways to predict and prevent Type 1 Diabetes, and Professor Jorma Toppari and Professor Matej Oresic are also responsible for the subprojects located in the University of Turku. The group led by Research Professor Anu Hopia from the Functional Foods Forum researches how genotype information and personalised communications related ApoE4, which determines an individual's propensity to high cholesterol, affect the fulfilment of lifestyle changes and sensory preferences The group led by Professor Olli Carpén and Professor Seija Grenman researches personalised combination therapies for high-grade serous ovarian cancer patients.

The programme is based on the increasing understanding on how diseases develop. The aim of the research programme is to produce information and tools to contribute to the understanding of individual characteristics at the molecular level, and to using these for promoting health. This information is also used as a basis for defining medical and other treatments.

This new way has been made possible especially by developments in genetic engineering and analytical and IT-based biomolecular science. In-depth knowledge of individual health factors enables for example measures that promote health and tailored drug combinations for individuals, or targeting treatments to those that benefit from them.

In a broader perspective, individual lifestyle and environmental risk factors can be charted and identified and then utilised in individually targeting health and nutritional guidelines and, at the same time, promoting physical activity and personal responsibility for health management. In addition, knowledge of personal health factors provides excellent new research tools and innovation possibilities for pharmaceutical technology.

In the future, information related to individuals is collected not only by the healthcare system, but also by the individuals themselves. More and more people follow and track their habits, such as their diet and exercise routines, regularly and in the long term.

More information: Personalised Health – From Genes to Society (pHealth)