Big Data and Precision Medicine

The increasing availability of biological data collected at different levels (e.g., cellular, tissue and whole-body levels) in large cohorts of individuals can be exploited to identify disease-related data features that can be used for tailoring medical treatments to each individual with the goal of ultimately improving population health. To achieve this goal, the analysis of Big Data by traditional (e.g., classical data mining approaches) and more sophisticated techniques (e.g., artificial intelligence algorithms) is expected to lead to individualized diagnosis and improved treatment by identifying the pathophysiology mechanisms underlying multiple, chronic medical conditions and diseases. The increasing relevance of Big Data analysis in precision medicine will improve clinical care by the prevention and early detection of diseases, personalization of interventions, ultimately improving health in the years to come.