What is the EPMA-Journal about?

Predictive, preventive and personalised medicine (PPPM) offers great promise for the future practice of medicine. Essential components of this approach include well-organised population screening protocols utilising novel diagnostic biomarkers of disease states; targeted prevention of common human pathologies; optimal treatment planning and personalised medicine, resulting in substantial improvement of the quality of life. This approach also offers the advantage of delivering care at potentially reduced costs to the population at large, addressing social and ethical issues related to healthcare access and affordability. PPPM research in conventional medicine and new branches of biomedicine raises many issue-related questions: Should molecular diagnostic approaches be considered complementary or substitutive measures to conventional approaches? How reliable are biomarkers for any given pathology? How can medical professionals distinguish between the highly predictive power of innovation and quackery in diagnostics? What can be done to overcome current national and international barriers to knowledge transfer? How will we educate the next generation of experts in bio- and predictive medicine? The journal addresses these highly relevant issues in editorial overviews, review articles and annotated papers.

People across all walks of life and socioeconomic status are increasingly demanding to be better informed of anticipated changes in their health status as they progress through life. Although not simple, it is now feasible to predict tissue/organ conditions associated with predisposition to such pathologies as premature aging, neurodegenerative processes, cardiovascular disorders and various cancers. A broad distribution and a routine clinical utilisation of these advanced technological approaches could enable a significant portion of the population to reach the 100-year age limit in excellent physical and mental health and as actively contributing members of society. A panel of leading world experts in Predictive, Preventive & Personalised Medicine contribute to the journal, addressing relevant issues and topics such as model-based patient-care and individualised therapy-planning, reproductive medicine and postnatal diagnostics, early/predictive diagnosis and optimised treatment of cardiovascular, cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. One of the central issues discussed in the journal is the screening for predisposition of healthy individuals to potential pathologies later in life. The groups at risk identified within the general population can be given a fair chance of a focused diagnosis with multidisciplinary expertise and well-timed preventive measures.

Principal audiences for the journal

EPMA Journal explores a new philosophy in medicine, and tracks novel trends in healthcare and biomedical education. The journal provides important information for individuals of wide-ranging professional and scientific backgrounds. Readers can appreciate the general concept of multidisciplinary approaches and learn the mindset of border areas and other scientific branches. Among those who will especially benefit from the information provided in this journal are:

• professionals in conventional and molecular diagnostics, biomedicine, biotechnologies, ethics, and economics
• universities, research units, private and public hospitals
• patient groups & groups of risk
• international associations with healthcare-oriented scientific, research and public health-related activities/responsibilities
• political organisations and authorities active in the healthcare sector
• healthcare industry

We intend for the EPMA journal to stimulate further discussion addressing many issues related to the future practice of predictive and personalised medicine.

Editorial Board

Editor in Chief
Olga Golubnitschaja
University of Bonn
Bonn, Germany

Associate Editors

Diabetes
Mahmood Mozaffari, Medical College of Georgia, Augusta, GA, USA

Neurodegenerative Diseases
Silvia Mandel, Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel

Cancer
Dominic Desiderio, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA

Healthcare Overview
Vincenzo Costigliola, President of EMA - EUROPEAN MEDICAL ASSOCIATION, Brussels, Belgium

Cardiovascular Diseases
Hiroyasu Iso, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan

Reproductive Medicine and Paediatrics
Maurizio Scarpa, Dept. of Paediatrics, University of Padova, Italy

Body Culture and Sport Medicine
Sai Ho Chan, Kuang Tien General Hospital, Taiwan, China

Editorial Board

Anna Benini, Cardiac Cath Laboratory Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
Leonard Berliner, New York Methodist Hospital, New York, NY, USA
Henning Boecker, Friedrich-Wilhelms-University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
Michael Braun, Friedrich-Wilhelms-University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
Dainius Characiejus, Vilnius University, Vilnius, Lithuania
Jorge Coelho, University of Coimbra, Coimbra, Portugal
Romano Danesi, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Andreas Dietz, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany
Dimiter Dimitrov, Center for Clinical Trails Varna, Varna, Bulgaria
Munis Dündar, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey
Paul Evans, Imperial College, London, UK
Hele Everaus, Tartu Ülikool, SA Tartu Ülikooli Kliinikum, Tartu, Estonia
Maurizio Ferrari, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy
Josef Flammer, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
Michael Fountoulakis, Molecular Medicine Laboratories, Basel, Switzerland
Peter Gahan, King?s College London, London, UK
Illana Gozes, The Lily and Avraham Gildor Chair for the Investigation of Growth Factors, Tel-Aviv, Israel
Iris Grossman, Pharmacogenetics Cosulting, Durham, NC, USA
Konstantina Grosios, University of Leeds, Leeds, UK
Suzanne Hagan, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, Scotland
Tatjana Josifova, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland
Marko Kapalla, Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia
Jens Kastrup, Rigshospitalet University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark
Nural Kiper, Hacettepe University School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey
Kurt Krapfenbauer, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
Heinz Lemke, Technical University of Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Tamás Major, Hospital for Chest Diseases, Mosdós, Hungary
Juan Mendive, Medicina Familiar y Comunitaria de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
Ariel Miller, Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel
Maria Orr, EPMA-Board, Cheshire, UK
Friedemann Paul, NeuroCure Charité University Medicine Berlin, Berlin, Germany
Martine Pinçon-Raymond, Universite Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, France
Halina Podbielska, Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Instrumentation, Wroclaw, Poland
Dragica Radojkovic, Laboratory for Molecular Biology, IMGGE, Belgrade, Serbia
Kneginja Richter, Klinikum Nuernberg, Nuernberg, Germany
Paolo Roberti di Sarsina, Ministry of Health, Italy
Hana Rosolova, Center of Preventive Cardiology, Pilzen, Czech Republic
Carlos Rubio, Karolinska Institute and University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden
Tamari Rukhadze, Iv. Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University, Tbilisi, Georgia
Hermona Soreq, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
Dirk Skowasch, Friedrich-Wilhelms-University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany
Charles Swanton, CR-UK London Research Institute, London, UK
Andrew Tasker, University of Prince Edward Island, Charlottetown, PE, Canada
Ondrej Topolcan, Charles University, Pilsen, Czech Republic
George Tsangaris, Academy of Athens, Athens, Greece
Kristina Yeghiazaryan, Friedrich-Wilhelms-University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany