The primary goal of modern medicine is to implement preventive and therapeutic interventions aimed at preserving health, understood as a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being in the absence of disease. However, the implementation of any healthcare intervention—whether preventive or therapeutic—in an unselected population (the “one-size-fits-all” approach) is characterized by a variable rate of failure, meaning a proportion of individuals who, despite receiving the intervention, do not benefit from the desired effect. The negative value of failure, combined with the resources invested in producing it, can be considered a measure of the inefficiency of the intervention itself.
The process of personalization in medicine aims to improve the efficiency of healthcare interventions in a context of limited resources, by identifying individuals or patients based on specific distinguishing traits, in whom the outcome of the intervention is maximized. Therefore, personalization relies on the ability to describe the set of traits that characterize an individual—known as the phenotype—and to associate this with the outcome of the intervention.
Determining the phenotype involves integrating anthropometric, epidemiological, and clinical data related to disease characteristics with data made available by the evolution of “omics” technologies such as genomics, transcriptomics, and metabolomics, as well as data on exposure to environmental factors. The application of artificial intelligence to the analysis of phenotypic data now makes it possible to generate tools potentially capable of predicting responses to specific therapies or determining disease risk in genetically predisposed individuals exposed to specific environmental factors.
Educational Objectives
The objective of the PhD Program in Personalized Medicine and Public Health is to train a new type of researcher with a solid theoretical background and technical skills capable of integrating clinical and epidemiological data with those derived from multiparametric omics analyses. These researchers should be able to develop tools to personalize healthcare interventions, ranging from the customization of therapies for specific diseases to preventive interventions in the field of public health.
This goal will be achieved through the acquisition of in-depth knowledge of techniques used to generate and collect data from various sources, including clinical, genetic, biological, and environmental data, as well as a solid understanding of analytical methodologies. Additionally, the program will provide the necessary knowledge to develop decision-making tools based on artificial intelligence applications.
These competencies will be acquired during the PhD through a structured program of lectures and seminars on specific topics. The seminars will be delivered by national and international experts selected by the PhD Faculty Board as part of the program’s educational planning.
The skills acquired will be applied in research projects developed within the laboratories of the Department of Medical Sciences and Public Health and the University Research Service Center (CeSAR) at the University of Cagliari, within the facilities of the University Hospital of Cagliari, or in the field as required by the specific project. Each PhD candidate will participate in departmental meetings where the progress of individual research projects across the various thematic areas will be presented and discussed, with particular attention to the methodologies used for data generation and analysis, and for the development of personalization tools.
PhD candidates are also expected to present the outcomes of their research at national and international conferences, and to conclude the PhD program with at least one full-length scientific publication in a peer-reviewed journal.
Career and Professional Opportunities
The title of PhD in Personalized Medicine and Public Health identifies a researcher with expertise in clinical and epidemiological fields, omics technologies, and the analysis and integration of related data, aimed at developing tools to guide therapeutic decisions and preventive interventions. This profile—unique in its specificity and broad in its scope of application—is expected to find professional opportunities both within the healthcare system and in the private sector, such as pharmaceutical or biotechnology companies.
Indeed, the growing interest in both public and private sectors in the research and development of tools designed to optimize therapeutic and preventive interventions highlights the need for specialized skills. In the pharmaceutical industry, the generation of efficacy and safety data alongside the identification of specific profiles capable of selecting patients for targeted treatments is strongly encouraged by national and international regulatory bodies. In the public sector, identifying risk profiles to guide preventive interventions is the focus of significant investment.
The PhD Program in Personalized Medicine and Public Health is structured to provide the professional profile required in this specific field.
Moreover, the knowledge and research experience gained during the PhD program can also prepare a new generation of researchers for careers in national and international research institutes and universities, within an academic career path.
Personalized Medicine and Public Health
