Increasing Scientific and Analytic Capacity in States: Extending Epidemiology Collaborations Beyond Traditional Workforce Development

Abstract

Many of the articles in this issue of the Maternal and Child Health (MCH) Journal showcase examples of the high-level applied research currently being conducted by MCH epidemiologists working in state health agencies. This work is in part a product of a collaboration between the MCH Epidemiology Program (MCHEP) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and MCH epidemiology faculty at the University of Illinois at Chicago School of Public Health (UIC-SPH)—a collaboration that provided ongoing, distance-based, advanced training and technical assistance in analytic methods for 7 years. For an in-depth description of this collaboration, see the article by Rankin et al. [1] later in this supplement. This collaboration was one of the many workforce development initiatives designed to build analytic capacity in state and local health agencies sponsored by the CDC, HRSA/MCHB, City-MatCH, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) and others over the past 25 years. As discussed in the commentary in this issue by Phillips et al. [2] these capacity building efforts have taken many forms, including face-to-face workshops, distance-based courses, blended trainings, academic degree programs, fellowships, and internships