Expert Reviews, a publisher of commentary and analysis in modern healthcare, has announced the publication of a special issue of Expert Review of Molecular Diagnostics on the emerging field of theranostics (November 2012; volume 12, issue 8).
Guest edited by experts Vural Özdemir (Research Group on Complex Collaboration and Centre of Genomics and Policy, McGill University, Montreal, Canada; and DELSA Global, Seattle, Canada) and William CS Cho (Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Hong Kong), the theranostics-themed issue seeks to provide a snapshot of the burgeoning field. It also looks ahead to what we can expect from post-genomic diagnostics and innovation in 21st century healthcare.
Theranostics is said to be a cutting-edge area integrating diagnostics and therapeutics to offer personalised healthcare for patients and for use in preventive medicine for population health. It includes health interventions guided by companion diagnostics for drugs (pharmacogenomics), nutrition (nutrigenomics) and vaccines (vaccinomics). Additionally, theranostics examines the emerging diagnostics for familial inherited disorders and common complex diseases such as cancer, diabetes and Alzheimer's dementia.
The mini-focus issue seeks to provide a multifaceted overview of how theranostic approaches are emerging in post-genomics healthcare and global health. The coverage addresses the theranostics concepts as well as applications in clinical medicine, public health, industry R&D and bioeconomics. The issue is seen as a key reading material for opinion leaders in academic medicine and data-intensive life sciences, global health governments, policy-makers and social scientists, pharmaceutical, food, vaccine and insurance industries.
Highlights from the issue include expert reviews and innovation analyses on the entry of theranostics to global maternal health, assessment of traditional Chinese medicine–drug interactions, and personalised healthcare in primary care and family medicine. An innovative look at the convergency of nanotechnology and theranostics, and how it will affect the public sphere and health policy, is also featured.
Free-to-access articles include editorials on the economic value of stratifying diagnostics and therapeutic interventions by Edward D Blair (Integrated Medicines Ltd., Cambridge, UK) and a discussion by Samer A. Faraj and Vural Özdemir (Research Group on Complex Collaboration, and Centre of Genomics and Policy, McGill University; and DELSA Global, Seattle) examining how post-genomics entrepreneurship is being shaped by new ideas such as 'collective theranostics' and 'alpha/beta leadership' in global science.
In the forward of the issue, the guest editors Vural Özdemir and William CS Cho summarise the articles and discuss how innovations in theranostics can be demonstrative of modern breakthroughs in science.
