The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response, in collaboration with the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH), is pleased to present the supplement entitled “Preparedness and Emergency Response Learning Centers: Lessons and Models” that was published in the September/October issue of the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice.The supplement highlights examples of the work of the Preparedness and Emergency Response Learning Centers’ (PERLCs) toward improving both the quality of and capacity for public health preparedness training and evaluation for the frontline public health workforce. The articles highlight innovative methods and training programs with the intent to stimulate additional innovations and programs for preparedness training. The journal supplement is available, at no cost, on the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice’s website, www.JPHMP.com, or accessed directly here.

The supplement showcases the PERLCs’ valuable contribution toward national health security and emphasizes the need for continued attention on public health preparedness and response workforce development initiatives. CDC funded 14 PERLCs at Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) accredited schools of public health. The PERLCs develop, deliver, and evaluate core competency-based training and education that addresses the public health preparedness and response needs of state, local, and tribal public health authorities. The PERLCs have collaborated with numerous partners, and the experience and lessons learned from these partnerships shine through many of these trainings and activities detailed in the supplement. As part of the supplement, Dean Ali S. Khan (Nebraska), while serving as CDC’s Director of the Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response, contributed a commentary entitled “A Resilient Nation – Critical to National and Global Health Security.” Within the commentary he discusses challenges to national and global health security and the ways in which academic-practice partnerships strengthen training and innovation.

ASPPH, in partnership with the CDC’s Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response, is providing access to the supplement at no cost at www.JPHMP.com. In addition to accessing the supplement on the journal’s website, it can also be viewed for free through the JPHMP App in iTunes.