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 Journal of Public Health Management and Practice supplement entitled “Preparedness and Emergency Response Learning Centers: Lessons and Models.” The full journal supplement is now available for viewing, at no cost, on the Journal of Public Health Management and Practice’s website, www.JPHMP.com, or accessed directly here.

This supplement highlights practical examples of the work of the CDC-funded 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. Its publication is intended to increase awareness and understanding of the innovative methods and training programs that have been developed, so that these achievements can be extended more broadly and can stimulate additional innovations and programs for preparedness training. The PERLCs, located at 14 Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) accredited schools of public health, were established in 2010 and tasked to 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.

Timed to be released with the journal’s September/October issue as a way to highlight National Preparedness Month, 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. 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.