Chapter 18 - Metabolomics in public health

Abstract

The Chapter aims to propose a conceptual framework of Metabolomics in Public Health. As Metabolomics, between the many post-genomic study methods, has a true horizontal approach, because it studies the universe of the small molecules, it unravels signals which are downstream from genes, and much more near to the phenotype phenomena of a disease or condition. To address these concepts, a number of themes are discussed, namely the data integration at different levels, the relationship of Metabolomics with the Systems Biology Public Health Science, the relevance and role of longitudinal and lifelong studies, the role of the quantitative methods, the connection with Big Data in Public Health with the possible evolution towards a “precision public health” and, finally, the process of knowledge integration in the fields of policies, training and resources, with the final goal of a strong translation of Metabolomic tools from research to practice.