ROCKVILLE, MD — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has awarded an Abt Associates-led team a contract to prepare for the next public health emergency. Abt and its partner, HealthVerity, will provide data that federal, state, territory, and local governments and other organizations can use to target interventions and countermeasures in the event of a public health emergency.

The COVID-19 pandemic made it abundantly clear that the nation’s ability to identify and respond to outbreaks fundamentally relies on access to high-quality and timely data for disease surveillance—especially data about vulnerable populations and response capacity. This five-year, $9.2 million contract will help the nation prepare for an effective response.

Abt and HealthVerity will create and disseminate user-friendly data products that will capture key socio-demographic and health information by sourcing, integrating, analyzing, and packaging disparate datasets. The team of data scientists and epidemiologists will combine large data sets from a variety of industry and government sources with massive computing power, automation, analytics, and artificial intelligence. This approach will provide data to inform plans and responses to public health emergencies in an equitable manner that is focused on local communities. Abt brings over two decades of CDC program expertise to the project, which aims to provide practical insights and recommendations to all Americans.

The data that the team will integrate include medical claims data, social media data, data from service providers (healthcare providers, schools, universities, nursing homes, and correctional facilities), market research, and data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, and other publicly available sources.

“We can’t afford to be unprepared for the next outbreak,” says Gabriella Newes-Adeyi, senior client account lead and advisor to the project. “The work we will do for CDC will give governments at all levels the information they need to safeguard the nation’s health, in particular the health of those most in need.”

About Abt Associates

Abt Associates is a global consulting and research firm that combines data and bold thinking to improve the quality of people’s lives. We partner with clients and communities to advance equity and innovation—from creating scalable digital solutions and combatting infectious disease, to mitigating climate change and evaluating programs for measurable social impact. https://www.abtassociates.com

Abt contact:

Stan Crock
stan_crock@abtassoc.com

(301) 347-5402

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