A dearth of organized, interdisciplinary research about the characteristics and functions of the nation's public health workforce hampers our ability to develop cohesive policy and to fully understand the effect of that workforce on the public health system and population health.

To address those issues, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, through its cooperative agreement with the Public Health Foundation, funded the Center of Excellence in Public Health Workforce Research and Policy (COEWRP) at the University of Kentucky College of Public Health in 2008. COEWRP works closely with the UK Center for Public Health Systems and Services Research (CPHSSR) established in 2006 with funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. COEWRP also participates in the annual Keeneland Conference on Public Health Systems and Services Research by sponsoring a scientific session highlighting current public health workforce research and by convening its national advisory committee in conjunction with the conference. Several of the committee members lend expertise to presentations and expert panels at the conference.

In addition to providing a venue for presentation and discussion of public health workforce research, major activities of the Center include:

• Posting information about relevant databases on the National Library of Medicine website in order to make them more accessible to researchers and policymakers
• Providing technical assistance to, and promoting networking among, public health workforce researchers
• Coordinating COEWRP efforts with the Data Harmonization Workgroup
• Assessing data elements in TRAIN (the Public Health Foundation sponsored learning management system) as a resource for public health workforce research
• Leveraging activities with federal and practice partners
• Facilitating CDC's participation and leadership efforts to improve and encourage new public health workforce policy
• Collaborating with the Center of Excellence for Public Health Workforce Studies at the University of Michigan, established in 2009.

• Linda T. Bilheimer, PhD
  Associate Director, Office of Analysis and Epidemiology
  National Center for Health Statistics
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  
  
• Peter I. Buerhaus, PhD, RN, FAAN
  Director, Center for Interdisciplinary Health Workforce Studies
  Valere Potter Distinguished Professor of Nursing
  Institute for Medicine and Public Health
  Vanderbilt University
  
  
• Claude Earl Fox, MD, MPH
  Director, Florida Public Health Institute
  Research Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Public Health
  Miller School of Medicine
  University of Miami
  
  
• Kristine M. Gebbie, DrPH, RN
  Joan Grabe Dean (Acting)
  Hunter Bellevue School of Nursing
  
  
• C. William Keck, MD, MPH
  Professor Emeritus, Department of Community Health Sciences
  Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine
  Chair, Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public Health Practice
  
  
• David Meltzer, MD, PhD
  Director, Center for Health and Social Sciences
  Division of Biological Sciences
  The University of Chicago
  
  
• Debra Perez, PhD, MPA, MA
  Senior Program Officer, Public Health Team
  Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
  
  
• George Stamas, MA
  Chief, Division of Occupational Employment Statistics
  Bureau of Labor Statistics
  
  
• Roger Straw, PhD
  Director, Office of Workforce Policy and Performance Management
  Bureau of Health Professions
  Health Resources and Services Administration
  
  
• Hugh H. Tilson, MD, DrPH
  Senior Advisor for Public Health to HRSA Bureau of Health Professions
  Adjunct Professor of Public Health Leadership, Epidemiology, and Health Policy
  Gillings School of Global Public Health
  University of North Carolina
  Adjunct Professor of Medicine
  Duke University
  
  

Ex Officio Members

• Carol A. Gotway Crawford, PhD
  Associate Director for Science, Office of Workforce and Career Development
  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  
  
• Ron Bialek, MPP
  President
  Public Health Foundation
  
  
• Matthew L. Boulton, MD, MPH
  Principal Investigator, Center of Excellence for Public Health Workforce Studies
  Associate Professor of Epidemilogy
  Associate Dean for Practice
  Director, Preventive Medicine Residency
  Director, Office of Public Health Practice
  School of Public Health
  Associate Professor of Internal Medicine
  Division of Infectious Diseases, University Health System
  Director, University Bioterrorism Preparedness Initiative
  University of Michigan
  

Principal Investigators:

• F. Douglas Scutchfield, MD
  Peter P. Bosomworth Professor of Health Services Research and Policy
  Director, Center for Public Health Systems and Services Research
  College of Public Health
  University of Kentucky
  
  
• Cynthia Lamberth, MPH, CPH
  Associate Dean for Workforce Development
  Director, Kentucky Public Health Leadership Institute
  Project Director, Center for Public Health Systems and Services Research
  College of Public Health
  University of Kentucky
  
  

Project Manager:

• Susan C. Webb, MSW, MPH