CDC Announces Plan to Establish Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans to create a new center designed to accelerate public health data exchange interoperability to support public health forecasting.

Once the construction is completed, the Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics will bring together experts in public health data, disease modelers and public health emergency responders to enable rapid decision-making using data.

The new center is aimed at empowering public health officials with the necessary information to mitigate the effects of existing and future disease threats, EHR Intelligence reported.

The center will also be designed to host projects for innovation and research programs focused on disease modeling.

According to CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the center will provide “an amazing opportunity” for both the agency and public health.

“We are excited to have the expertise and ability to model and forecast public health concerns and share information in real-time to active governmental, private sector, and public actions in anticipation of threats both domestically and abroad,” Walensky said in a public statement.

The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, which was signed by President Joe Biden in March, will provide the initial funding for the center.

The project will focus on three key functions, namely connection, prediction and information. 

According to the CDC, it will use open-source software and application programming interfaces at the new center for public health through data exchange.

The center will also be used for informing health care stakeholders about public health outbreaks by translating and communicating forecasts on outbreaks. Such a capability will connect key decision makers across various sectors, including government, nonprofits and businesses, to facilitate unified public communication activities.

Marc Lipsitch will serve as the center’s director for science; Dylan George will serve as director for operations; Caitlin Rivers will serve as associate director; and Rebeca Kahn will serve as senior scientist. 

The four officials will comprise the center’s leadership team and will be tasked with developing and implementing a strategy to construct the center.