From: EXPOsOMICS: final policy workshop and stakeholder consultation
Type of Challenge | Challenge |
---|---|
Scientific | -Availability of accurate and inexpensive sensors -Low statistical power (low levels of exposure and small omic changes) -Multi-city designs are needed for contrast, but complicate inference -Validation in larger, longer-term exposed populations and in different settings and across omics platforms -Collection and storage of data as well as data access and ownership -Limited understanding of biological pathways and their interaction -Limited capacity to look at historical exposures -Large variation in bioinformatics analyses -Validation of omics approaches (both technical validation and biological validation) and a lack of a platform for data sharing -Matching omics measurements with functionalities (annotation of unknown biomarkers, differentiating exposures from biological responses, investigation of mixtures and interactions between agents) -Understanding mechanisms for biological plausibility and causality assessment -Cost of omics |
Policy | -Current regulatory standards and policy not yet adapted to the use of EXPOsOMICS evidence -Conceptual framework for integrating the contribution of exposome or external exposure data into models of disease -Communication of research results -Demonstrate the utility of the exposome approach to funders and policy makers |