viiPreface to the Second Edition
Considerable advances have taken place in technologies used for advancing person-
alized medicine, and it is increasingly applied in clinical use. This has required
expansion and revision of some parts of the fi rst edition published in 2009. The style
has been maintained due to the positive feedback of readers, including scientists,
pharmacists, physicians, and lay persons interested in this topic. The book provides
a concise and comprehensive source of reference for those involved in healthcare
management, planning, and politics. As a single author book, it avoids the overlaps
and missing areas frequently found in multiauthor books. Moreover, the time to
publication is reduced by avoiding the long delays of numerous authors who do not
keep the deadlines.
The book includes 700 references selected from thousands of publications during
the past decade and appended at the end of each chapter. Some of the references
included were prepublication versions at the end of 2014 that will not be formally
published until 2015. The text is supplemented by 31 illustrations and 56 tables.
Algorithms are included as a guide to those involved in the management of important
diseases where decision making is involved due to the multiple choices available.
Finally, I thank the editorial staff of Springer, particularly Patrick Marton and
David Casey, for their help and encouragement in this project.
Basel, Switzerland Kewal K. Jain