Press Release

September 27, 2006
Contact: Jerry Carey
Phone: (856) 566-6171
careyge@umdnj.edu

$1 Million Awarded to NJ Center for Public Health Preparedness by CDC

NEW BRUNSWICK — The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC has announced an award of $1,022,395 to support the continued funding of the New Jersey Center for Public Health Preparedness (NJCPHP) at the UMDNJ-School of Public Health. This is the third year that the CDC has provided funding for the NJCPHP.

“This award allows us to continue critical work throughout the region to provide the training and leadership needed to respond to public health emergencies,” said Dr. Glenn Paulson, director of the NJCPHP. “Our programs focus on improving the capabilities of local, city and county health agencies - along with the entire New Jersey public health and health care workforce - to respond to such diverse public health threats as the flu pandemic and terrorist attacks.”

Since its inception in 2003, the NJCPHP has provided training to over 5,000 members of the public health and first responder workforces on subjects ranging from bioterrorism, chemical and radiological threats, psychological first aid, infectious disease threats including pandemic influenza and community preparedness. The NJCPHP is one of 50 such university-based centers throughout the country, all funded through a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

In addition to local, county and state health departments, other target groups for NJCPHP training include the nursing community, non-English speaking segments of the New Jersey population, mental healthcare professionals, and the Port Authority of New York/New Jersey. NJCPHP also facilitates cooperative efforts between the public health and health care sectors, including new projects with the New Jersey Hospital Association and the Medical Society of New Jersey.

Members of the NJCPHP Steering Committee and Advisory Board include liaisons to the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, UMDNJ- New Jersey Medical School, UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

More information about NJCPHP is available at www.njcphp.org. To request an interview with Dr. Paulson, please contact Jerry Carey, UMDNJ News Service, at (856) 566-6171 or at (973) 972-3000.

UMDNJ is the nation's largest free-standing public health sciences university with more than 5,500 students attending the state's three medical schools, its only dental school, a graduate school of biomedical sciences, a school of health related professions, a school of nursing and its only school of public health, on five campuses. Last year, there were more than two million patient visits to UMDNJ facilities and faculty at campuses in Newark, New Brunswick/Piscataway, Scotch Plains, Camden and Stratford. UMDNJ operates University Hospital, a Level I Trauma Center in Newark, and University Behavioral HealthCare, a mental health and addiction services network.