Genomics and population health in an era of data-driven care

Genomics, medicine and population health to 2050  examines how best to secure the potential benefits of genome-based technologies for population health globally over the next quarter century.

The report, along with a communique and an academic publication, describes the findings of an international group of leading researchers, health professionals and policy makers who met at Ayer’s Cliff from 7 to 11 September 2025. The impetus for that meeting came from recent progress in genomic and related research, particularly as a result of the accelerating generation and accumulation of data, the elaboration of new techniques in molecular biology and, especially, rapidly converging developments in computational intelligence (including machine learning, deep learning and generative AI). The objective was to explore the implications of these developments in relation to clinical medicine, population health, bioethics and public policy.

Participants were drawn together by a shared commitment to the responsible use of data from biomarkers and genome-based technologies to increase understanding of the biological and environmental determinants of disease, to guide disease prevention, and to protect and promote health.

A central objective of the meeting was to identify leaders to carry forward the enterprise that was begun 20 years ago at a conference in Bellagio, Italy, under the banner of public health genomics. The group included some of those who were present at that initial meeting, as well as a new generation of leaders in relevant fields.