South-East Asia Regional Conference on Epidemiology

Introduction
A Brain-to-Society approach to chronic disease
prevention and epidemiology
Laurette Dubé
The Brain-to-Society (BtS) approach to chronic disease prevention and epidemiology has been
developed as the scientific anchor of the McGill World Platform for Health and Economic Convergence
(MWP). The MWP is an unique initiative anchored in McGill University’s Desautels Faculty of
Management and Faculty of Medicine. The traditional divide between market, economy and society
has created challenging environmental conditions for human health and well-being. The MWP is
rooted in the conviction that by harnessing the power of the best minds and leading organizations in
the health, social, business and economic sectors operating at local, national and global levels, and that
of the most recent developments in genetics, neuroscience and computational systems sciences, this
divide and the complex issues at the interface of health and economics can be bridged. The MWP’s
mission is to foster developments in science, policy, innovation and education to mainstream health
into management and economic decisions impacting health and health care, and, conversely, to weave
management and economic considerations into public health and health care systems design and
delivery. What follows is a brief description of the key tenets of the Brain-to-Society (BtS) approach
as well as an overview of some of the early research findings. It ultimately offers a new model that
could be tied to the study of epidemiology to yield more positive health outcomes in a biologically and
economically sustainable manner around the world. Indeed, many features of the BtS approach could
enrich traditional disease epidemiology and lead to better interventions on the ground.
Background
The Brain-to-Society approach to chronic disease prevention and epidemiology aims at articulating
a new science of the hows to feed – and be fed by – complex collaboration and innovation across
disciplines, sectors and jurisdictions. This will allow us to scale up our abilities to address issues that
lie at the interface of biology and modern society. It capitalizes on cutting-edge methods, metrics and
models from genetics, neuroscience and computational systems science, and integrates them with
those of health, behavioural, social, agricultural, business and economic disciplines. The BtS approach
also builds upon the ground-breaking accomplishments of the Human Genome Sequencing Project
(Individual-Level Diagnostic) and the approach to environmental research and action pioneered by the
2009 Nobel Laureate, Elinor Ostrom (Societal-Level Diagnostic).
The Individual-Level Diagnostic will examine the degree to which individual differences in
genetics, neuro-cognition and socio-environmental exposures modulate behaviour, body weight
and nutritional risk over time. The Societal-Level Diagnostic examines the exposure conditions that
emerge from the single and combined impact of policy, investment, business and social innovation
from various stakeholders.