Last week, ASPPH joined the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) in hosting a congressional briefing to highlight the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics (CFA)’s Insight Net, a network that empowers public health leaders with real-time data to make faster, smarter, and more cost-effective decisions.

The event emphasized how this national research network is enhancing public health preparedness and decision-making through real-time data and cross-sector collaboration. The briefing demonstrated the value of integrating academic, government, and private sector expertise to create smarter, more responsive public health systems.

The event featured speakers including Jason Asher, Director for the Predict Division within the Center of Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics at the CDC; Joe Coyle, deputy state epidemiologist and director of the Bureau of Infectious Disease Prevention at the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services; Kelly Dockham, federal affairs director at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Mark Escott, chief medical officer for the City of Austin, Texas; Tim Leshan, chief external relations and advocacy officer at ASPPH; Justin Lessler, professor of epidemiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; Margaret Martin, DLA Piper and former health policy director for the Senate HELP Committee; and Nick Patel, chief executive officer of Stealth Consulting.

As the CDC continues to invest in research networks like Insight Net, the public health community is better equipped to meet current and future health threats. In fact, CDC-supported research at many ASPPH member institutions is equipping local leaders with tools to forecast and respond to public health threats using real-time data.