Public Health Informatics Institute

09/03/2026

We're proud to share that PHII's disaster-related child and adolescent mental health (CAMH) surveillance resources, developed in collaboration with CDC, are now featured on the HHS Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR) TRACIE website. This recognition expands access to tools that help public health agencies strengthen surveillance efforts and support child and adolescent mental well-being before, during and after natural disasters. Aligned with CDC's Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) Response Readiness Framework Priorities, the resources can also help agencies meet 2024-28 natural disaster preparedness and response requirements. Explore these resources: https://buff.ly/LjbNuk2

08/27/2026

As National Immunization Awareness Month wraps up, we're excited to share a new immunization information systems (IIS) sustainability toolkit. Developed in cooperation with CDC and with input from public health agencies, the toolkit offers practical guidance to help agencies strengthen and sustain their IIS by diversifying funding sources and improving efficiency. View the toolkit: https://buff.ly/5Ga1FYh

08/20/2026

Grateful for PHII’s Requirements Lab team taking part in this important work. Read more: https://lnkd.in/dnUbBFae

How do you protect 242 million people from rapid disease outbreaks? By replacing fragmented health data systems with unified, real-time surveillance.

Featured in our latest annual report, Nigeria is transforming its outbreak response with the support of SONAR (Strengthening Outbreak Notification and Response), an initiative of The Global Fund implemented by the Task Force program - bringing together our expert epidemiologists and health informatics specialists In partnership with The Global Fund, Africa CDC, World Health Organization (WHO), and the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, SONAR optimized digital tools and trained community teams to ensure early outbreak signals could become actionable, life-saving public health decisions.

This landmark effort enabled Nigeria to independently manage and share quality data through its Central Data Repository, serving as a model for 13 other nations across Africa and Asia. This work is helping to build stronger public health security around the world.

Read the full story in our annual report: https://www.taskforce.org/2025-annual-report/data-for-action/

08/17/2026

Clinical decision support (CDS) can deliver public health guidance on STI treatment, screening and prevention. PHII partnered with the CDC, Elimu Informatics and three clinical partners to build an open-source CDS application using HL7 Clinical Quality Language and CDS Hooks standards. Integrated into a health system's EHR, the app prompted alerts for gonorrhea treatment, HIV screening and HIV prevention options.

PHII's Sarah Shaw co-authored a new Learning Health Systems article on the design approach and lessons learned. Read article: https://buff.ly/rocANOX
Learn about CDS: https://buff.ly/4RwtSrm

07/30/2026

Lura Daussat, PHII director of practice support, recently reflected on how her time in the Peace Corps influenced her journey into public health in an article by the University of North Texas Peace Corps Prep Program.

"I don’t think I would be in public health had I not done Peace Corps,” Lura says.

Read the story:

When a large snake slithered onto her classroom windowsill, Lura Daussat’s students were terrified. She asked them not to kill the creature, but, out of fear of the many deadly breeds that roamed around Ghana, they chopped its head off.

07/22/2026

How do you communicate the value of data modernization?

PHII Senior Informatics Analyst Sarah Shaw joined ASTHO's Public Health Review Morning Edition to discuss the new Data Modernization Communications Toolkit. Developed by PHII in partnership with PHIG national partners, the toolkit is designed to help public health agencies communicate the value of data modernization, build support for modernization efforts and develop messages that resonate with diverse audiences.

Visit https://buff.ly/4qd3BlQ to listen to the episode. For more information on the DMC Toolkit, visit https://buff.ly/u45c8xC

07/17/2026

It's a wrap on in Louisville! Thanks to everyone who dropped by our booth. One of the highlights of the conference was meeting face-to-face with people we’ve only known through screens. Connect with us by signing up for our e-newsletter: https://buff.ly/RijVlB9

07/08/2026

Mark your calendars for the annual NACCHO360 Conference hosted at Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville! The conference will be July 14-17. If you’re planning on attending, be sure to stop by our PHII booth 918!

Our team is excited to connect with local public health professionals, share resources, talk about innovative approaches to public health data and explore how we can work together to advance healthier communities.

Whether you're looking to learn more about our tools, programs or partnerships— or just want to say hello—we'd love to meet you!

07/02/2026

🎉 A huge thank you to the CDC subject matter experts whose expertise and partnership have helped PHII create public health resources on everything from data modernization to immunization information systems (IIS)!

This is 80.
Today marks 80 years since CDC officially opened its doors.
On July 1, 1946, the Communicable Disease Center began on one floor of a small building in Atlanta with a mission to help stop malaria from spreading across the nation.
Since then, generations of public health professionals have helped respond to disease outbreaks, public health emergencies, and other health challenges working every day to help people live longer, healthier lives.
This anniversary isn't just about looking back. It's an opportunity to explore the people, milestones, and moments that have shaped CDC's history and the nation's public health over the past 80 years.
Throughout the year, we'll share stories, historic photos, and milestones from CDC's journey. We hope you'll follow along as we look back at where it all began and the mission that continues today.

06/24/2026

Grateful for our collaboration with Cal Poly’s Digital Transformation Hub (DxHub), Amazon Web Services (AWS), Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston Children’s Hospital and the Massachusetts Universal Newborn Hearing Screening (UNHS) Program to automate the classification of pediatric audiology reports. Learn more: https://buff.ly/ObWKGbp

Every day counts when it comes to infant development. The standard for Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) is to screen by 1 month, diagnose by 3 months, and intervene by 6 months. Yet, manual data reporting can create a bottleneck and put that critical timeline at risk.

To bridge this gap, the Public Health Informatics Institute, a program of The Task Force for Global Health, and their partners collaborated on a generative AI solution. The tool features a "human-in-the-loop" design that preserves clinical judgment instead of replacing it. Streamlined reporting means infants who are deaf or hard of hearing get connected to early intervention services sooner.

Read more about this scalable, automated system: https://www.taskforce.org/closing-the-gap-in-early-hearing-detection-with-ai/.

Photo courtesy of Midkhat Izmaylov