Understanding the Exposome

The Exposome concept

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The exposome concept, initially described by Wild in 2005 and 2012, refers to the totality of exposures an individual is subjected to from conception to a complete lifetime. The exposome concept was introduced as a complement to the genome initiative (improving our understanding of diseases by decoding the human genome), highlighting the pressing need to consider the importance of both internal and external exposures for health.

With the exposome approach we intend to study multiple exposures including physical and social environments at different stages of child’s development at different places where a child spends time (home, neighbourhood, kindergarten, school). Furthermore, the exposome approach provides a comprehensive framework to study the long-term effects including causes and mechanisms driving social inequalities in health.