New postgraduate course at Luleå University of Technology focuses on precision health

Luleå University of Technology has launched the new postgraduate course Precision Health - Perspectives and Applications, which gives PhD students an in-depth understanding of how different perspectives, theoretical frameworks and interdisciplinary approaches can contribute to the development of precision health throughout life.

The course is unique in Sweden and is given within the PRECISE graduate school, with the ambition to strengthen future research on accurate, sustainable and equitable health. The idea is that the course will be recurring within PRECISE.

A broad knowledge area with a focus on societal benefit

Through the course, PhD students will have the opportunity to explore how perspectives and theoretical frameworks can be used to develop new knowledge in precision health. Key themes are:

• Health outcomes and lifelong health
• Implementation of precision health
• Sustainability and long-term societal benefits
• Equity issues and ethics

Participants work both with theoretical in-depth studies and with understanding how precision health can be put into practice - in the meeting between individual, technology and society.

- Our goal is to create a course that helps doctoral students understand how complex and multidimensional precision health is. By working with concepts, theoretical frameworks, implementation, sustainability and societal benefits, we want to build a strong foundation for future research," said Anneli Nyman, Director of the PRECISE Graduate School.

- "This is a course that combines societal needs with research and highlights the need for interdisciplinary collaboration," said Maria Larsson Lund, Deputy Scientific Director of PRECISE.

The power of interdisciplinary meetings

Several of the doctoral students in the first round of the course describe that the breadth and interdisciplinary approach of the course have provided new insights.

- "I have identified new concepts in precision health, found new references with relevance to my project and got clearer thoughts on how I can anchor my dissertation work in precision health," said one of the doctoral students.

Another PhD student emphasizes the value of interdisciplinary meetings:

- "Hearing how PhD students from other disciplines approach precision health was inspiring and instructive for my own work.