September Newsletter - 2004

Where the Institute for Bio-Security Falls Within the CDC’s Universe of Participating Educational Institutions
Our Institute is one of many working together to provide response to emerging health threats to the nation

Saint Louis University’s Institute for Bio-Security is one of many educational institutions that are funded by, and contribute to, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), headquartered in Atlanta, GA. Organizationally, the Institute operates under the umbrella of CDC’s Public Health Practice Program Office Division, in the Office of Workforce Policy and Planning, and within the Centers for Public Health Preparedness, outlined below.
The goal of the Office of Workforce Policy and Planning is to improve the ability of public health workers, nation-wide, to perform the essential services of public health and to prepare the workforce to respond to current and emerging health threats. The Office of Workforce Policy and Planning enhances the ability of the workforce to perform essential public health services through the following programs:

•Workforce Development Strategic Plan
Activities include collaboration with partners to monitor workforce trends, identify competencies for practice, develop curriculum, design an integrated life- long learning system, provide individual and organizational incentives for learning, conduct evaluation and research, and assure financial support.
•Leadership Development
Builds leadership capacity by supporting the National Public Health Leadership Institute (PHLI), the Public Health Leadership Society, the Management Academy for Public Health (MAPH), the National Public Health Leadership Development Network, 18 state and regional leadership institutes, and the CDC/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Leadership and Management Institute.
•Academic Partnerships
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have fostered partnerships with academic institutions and associations to build a diverse public health workforce pipeline, facilitate research and innovations, and strengthen academic-partnership linkages.
•Centers for Public Health Preparedness
A national network which builds the capacity of public health and healthcare professionals to prepare for and respond to terrorism and other emerging public health threats through education and training.
•Public Health Ready
A program which prepares local public health agencies to respond and protect the public’s health from bioterrorism and other emergencies

Centers for Public Health Preparedness (CPHP) were established to train the public health workforce to respond to threats to our nation's health from:
• bioterrorism
• infectious disease outbreaks such as SARS
• other health emergencies

They meet this objective by developing training materials including courses, fact sheets, and other resources. Training is delivered either on-site or through distance learning. All CPHP-produced training is competency based.

There are three types of CPHPs, which fulfill different roles:
• Academic Centers for Public Health Preparedness (21) are based in schools of public health. They provide training for areas in which they are located, and support national training by producing distance learning material.
•Specialty Centers for Public Health Preparedness (13) focus on specific areas such as public health law, zoonotic disease, research or mental health.
• Advanced Practice Centers for Public Health Preparedness (5) focus on operational readiness, communications and/or information technology and training applications.

The Specialty Centers for Public Health Preparedness, including our Institute for Bio-Security, include the following institutions:

Emory University
Southeastern Center for Emerging Biological Threats

Georgetown University
Center for Law and the Public's Health

Iowa State University
Center for Food Security and Public Health

New York University
Center for the Study of Psychosocial Aspects of Bioterrorism

Northern Arizona University
Center for the Study of Dangerous Pathogens

Texas A&M
National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center

Thomas Jefferson University Hospital
Center for Bioterrorism and Disaster Preparedness

University of Findlay
Center for Terrorism Preparedness

University of Georgia
Center for Leadership in Education and Applied Research in Mass Destruction Defense

University of Louisville
Center for Deterrence of Biowarfare and Bioterrorism

University of Louisville
Institute for Bioethics, Health Policy, and Law

University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
Clinical Simulation Center

Additional information about the CDC’s Office of Workforce Policy and Planning is available at http://www.cdc.gov/.

Have a question or comment? Email bioterr@slu.edu