Workshop on Integrating Omics and Policy for Healthy Ageing

The increase in the human life span is a testament to the economic, social and medical progress made over the course of the last century. However, an ageing population brings some new challenges both to healthcare systems and to medicine in terms of the increased manifestation of specific diseases primarily seen in the elderly. Biomedical innovation, and in particular research into “omics technologies”, offers the promise of new means of detection, prevention and treatment of age-related disabilities and diseases. But the development of these new technologies will not be without challenges, in particular with respect to the difficulty of translating technological advances into innovation in the clinical setting. This report provides a synthesis of a March 2013 workshop organised by the OECD and the Human Genome Organisation (HGO) which focused on latest advances in omics technologies for healthy ageing and the policies and practices needed to facilitate their responsible development and integration in medical research, innovation and health policy.