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The principles underpinning Precision Health reach back many years. The authors of a paper presented at a meeting of the American Public Health Association in 1873 wrote that “the custom of society must be changed so that the physician is employed to prevent rather than to cure diseases” [4]. Twenty years later, William Osler—often thought of as the originator of modern medicine—helped to found the medical school at Johns Hopkins University. And he was clear about the need for patient‐centered medicine. “The good physician,” said Osler, “treats the disease; the great physician treats the patient who has the disease.” As a staunch advocate of prevention, Osler was well ahead of his time. He believed in both the power of scientific evidence and the power of bedside medicine. Precision Health is Osler’s heir—the modern incarnation of his dual focus on rigorous science and the enduring physician‐patient bond.

A focus on prevention was also at the heart of groundbreaking research that began in 1948. That year marked the launch of the Framingham Heart Study, which was an in‐depth exploration of cardiovascular disease. At the time, the disease affected one of every three men in the United States, and it was twice as common as cancer [5]. Yet its cause was unknown. To better understand cardiovascular disease, an arm of the National Institutes of Health recruited more than 5,200 volunteers, between the ages of 30 and 59, in the Massachusetts town of Framingham to participate in a study. Each of the volunteers would be examined every two years, for a period of 20 years.

It became the most comprehensive such study ever undertaken and it continues today, with its third generation of participants. The discoveries it has brought forth have greatly expanded our understanding of the causes of cardiovascular disease and how to prevent it, through diet, exercise, and avoiding tobacco. Data from the study is the foundation of several risk prediction calculators for heart conditions, along with diabetes, fatty liver disease, and hypertension [6].

The knowledge unlocked by the Framingham Heart Study is a reminder of why researchers need to continue exploring the causes of different diseases—and to focus on preventing those diseases. Looking into the future, Project Baseline, a contemporary sequel to the Framingham study, holds the promise of dramatically increasing our understanding of health and disease by analyzing an enormously greater number of parameters. Like the Framingham study, Project Baseline, which I describe in more detail in the conclusion, is a longitudinal cohort study. One of its goals is tracking these parameters, and the health of the study volunteers, for a period of years.