title: Systems medicine and the public's health.
abstract: Innovative 'systems' approaches to biomedical research offer substantial promise for advancing knowledge and improving health care, as outlined by Bousquet et al. in this issue. However, they are unlikely to improve population health without concurrent efforts to address environmental and social contributors to health, including conditions such as poverty, substandard housing, and restricted access to employment and education. Biomedical researchers have a responsibility to promote realistic expectations for systems or 'P4' medicine, and to join others in calling for broad efforts to promote equitable access to health care and social conditions that promote well-being.See correspondence article: http://genomemedicine.com/content/3/7/43.
authors.affiliation: Department of Bioethics and Humanities, University of Washington, Box 357120, 1959 NE Pacific, Room A204, Seattle, WA 98195-7120, USA. wburke@u.washington.edu.
authors.forename: Wylie
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Burke
authors.forename: Susan Brown
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Trinidad