In June 2025, Washington, D.C. became the epicenter of a transformative movement poised to redefine global health and chronic disease prevention. The inaugural Human Exposome Moonshot Forum convened over 350 experts spanning scientists, policymakers, ethicists, journalists, and civil society representatives from more than 50 countries and 150 leading organizations. This landmark gathering heralded the launch of a visionary, globally coordinated initiative aimed at comprehensively charting all the physical, chemical, biological, and psychosocial exposures—collectively known as the "exposome"—that individuals encounter throughout their lives. Unlike the human genome, which accounts for only 3-5% of disease causality, the exposome is implicated in over 80% of chronic illnesses, emphasizing a paradigm shift toward environmental and lifestyle determinants of health.
The Human Genome Project, completed in 2003 at a staggering $3 billion cost, unlocked unprecedented insights into genetics, catalyzing revolutionary biomedical advances and generating enormous economic impact. However, the exposome initiative recognizes the limitations of a gene-centric view and endeavors to bridge the gap by capturing the complexity of external influences on disease etiology. Professor Gary Miller from Columbia University, a pioneer in exposomics, underlined this by stating that while the genome provided a piece of the puzzle, the exposome offers a holistic picture that could revolutionize our understanding of disease causation and prevention. This initiative aims to parallel the scope and ambition of the Human Genome Project but incorporates cutting-edge tools such as artificial intelligence, advanced sensors, metabolomics, and big data analytics to accelerate discovery.
Central to this ambitious endeavor is the integration of diverse technological approaches. From high-throughput mass spectrometry to geospatial mapping, the exposome project capitalizes on the convergence of innovative methodologies. Wearable biosensors, transcriptomic and proteomic analyses, and machine learning algorithms will collectively generate and process large-scale multi-omic datasets. This fusion of technologies promises to reveal hidden associations between environmental exposures and health outcomes that traditional research paradigms have overlooked. The development of AI-driven analytics and environmental monitoring platforms is already spawning startups and digital health applications, marking the exposome initiative as a potent economic and innovation driver in addition to its public health mission.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) plays a pivotal role in advancing the exposome agenda. Acting NIH Deputy Director Nicole Kleinstreuer announced the creation of a Real-World Data Platform designed to integrate clinical, genomic, behavioral, and environmental information at unprecedented scales. This infrastructure is both a technical and scientific imperative, propelling exposome research beyond siloed datasets toward a holistic, interoperable data ecosystem. The collaboration of multiple NIH institutes through their Office of Strategic Initiatives underscores a broad institutional commitment to exposome science, signaling a new era of federated biomedical research integration.
Global momentum is palpable beyond the United States. The European Exposome Infrastructure (EIRENE), backed by 17 EU governments and supported through the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI), is projected to mobilize over €1 billion in investment for exposome research. The International Human Exposome Network (IHEN) and the Network for Exposomics in the U.S. (NEXUS) exemplify international efforts to harmonize methodologies and forge a collaborative research ecosystem. These consortia aim to develop standardized data protocols, ethical frameworks, and shared scientific agendas that enable cross-border data sharing and joint discovery. Their work is laying the foundation for a unified global infrastructural backbone for exposomics.
Ethics and governance surfaced as central pillars of the Forum’s discussions. Drawing on lessons from prior large-scale genomics projects, participants emphasized the necessity of anticipatory, inclusive, and transparent ethical oversight. They advocated embedding “ethical parallel research” in every stage—from setting standards to interpreting findings—to safeguard public trust and ensure equitable participation. This proactive approach recognizes the complexity and sensitivity inherent in tracking lifetime exposures, which may include private behavioral and environmental data. Transparent governance models and active citizen involvement are not mere add-ons but critical drivers of the initiative’s success.
Open science and FAIR data principles—Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable—were embraced as essential to the movement’s ethos. The European Exposome Map, an early output from IHEN, offers a prime example by providing fine-grained environmental exposure data spanning two decades across Europe, freely accessible for researchers worldwide. This commitment to openness seeks to democratize access to exposome data, foster reproducibility, and accelerate innovation by lowering barriers to entry for scientists, policymakers, and the public. Such data sharing is envisioned to catalyze new hypotheses and interventions that transcend geographical and disciplinary boundaries.
Public engagement emerged as the defining theme underpinning the Exposome Moonshot’s roadmap. Stakeholders concurred that early and sustained involvement of citizens, clinicians, and journalists is indispensable for garnering support and ensuring ethical application. The workshop-style Forum underscored participatory models where living labs and citizen science initiatives encourage communities to co-create monitoring networks and mobile technologies that translate exposome awareness into everyday decision making. This bottom-up ethos acknowledges that individuals best understand their own environments and are vital partners in data collection and interpretation.
Science communication strategies are being proactively developed to prevent past communication failures observed in fields like vaccine deployment and stem cell research. Organizers pledged to collaborate with science journalism associations and training programs—including the World Conference of Science Journalists in Pretoria—to equip reporters with the knowledge needed to accurately convey complex exposome science. Media grants and dedicated journalistic fields focusing on exposomics are under consideration to sustain high-quality, transparent, and engaging coverage that keeps the public informed and invested.
The Forum culminated with the unveiling of the Washington Declaration, a global commitment to establishing exposomics as an essential scientific discipline, policy priority, and public health imperative on par with genomics. The Declaration reflects a consensus that international cooperation must transcend fragmented funding cycles and independent projects; a robust, joint agenda is required. By openly inviting public signatures and participation via the exposomemoonshot.org platform, organizers emphasize inclusivity and grassroots mobilization as core components of the movement’s ethos.
Notably, the initiative features strong leadership and endorsements from distinguished figures such as Sir Peter Gluckman, former Chief Science Adviser to New Zealand’s Prime Minister and current President of the International Science Council. He framed the Moonshot as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to deploy emerging technologies, computational analytics, and ethical frameworks to decode how environmental transformations impact human health across generations. Similarly, policymakers, scientists, and international organizations echoed calls for a unified, multi-disciplinary approach that bridges regulatory, scientific, and political domains.
Concrete plans for follow-up include tailored implementation strategies that account for diverse environments, economies, and demographic profiles across the globe. Upcoming regional meetings are scheduled in Brazil, Chile, the Czech Republic, Japan, and South Africa, with a successor Moonshot Forum slated for 2026 in Barcelona. National exposome contact persons have been appointed in places like South Africa and Quebec to serve as focal points for coordination and advocacy. The initiative is thus cascading from a foundational global blueprint into actionable, region-specific programs designed to maximize impact.
The envisaged integration of multi-omic data with exposomic profiles promises to revolutionize personalized medicine, environmental health, and biomedical research. Advanced machine learning models will mine complex datasets to identify previously obscured associations, providing insights into the etiology of chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disorders, respiratory illnesses, and neurodevelopmental challenges. By shifting the focus from genetic predisposition to the dynamic interplay between genes and environment, the Human Exposome Project aspires to inaugurate a new era of proactive disease prevention.
In conclusion, the Human Exposome Moonshot represents a paradigm shift in biomedical research and public health. It challenges the scientific community to think beyond static genomes and embrace the multifaceted environmental factors shaping human health. By harnessing cutting-edge technologies, forging international partnerships, and embedding robust ethical and public engagement frameworks, this initiative stands poised to transform our approach to chronic disease, healthcare, and societal well-being. The success of this endeavor hinges not only on scientific innovation but also on collective will, inclusivity, and sustained global cooperation.
Subject of Research: The Human Exposome and Its Role in Chronic Disease Prevention and Biomedical Innovation
Article Title: Launching the Human Exposome Moonshot: A New Frontier in Global Public Health
News Publication Date: June 2025
Web References: exposomemoonshot.org, www.sfsa.co.za
References: [Washington Declaration on the Human Exposome], [European Exposome Map], reports from NIH, IHEN, and EIRENE initiatives
Keywords: Artificial intelligence, Genomics, Metabolomics, Computational science, Omics, Quantum computing, Personalized medicine, Drug discovery, Toxicology, Big data
