Background about the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

For more than thirty years, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has worked to eliminate health disparities and create healthy communities by funding Prevention Research Centers (PRCs) throughout the United States.

The CDC is one of the major operating components of the Department of Health and Human Services. In 1984, Congress authorized the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to create a network of academic health centers and their community partners to conduct applied public health research. The CDC was selected to administer the Prevention Research Centers (PRC) network and to provide leadership, technical assistance, and oversight. Each center conducts at least one community-based participatory research project with an underserved population that has a disproportionately large burden of disease and disability.

CDC's Mission

To collaborate to create the expertise, information, and tools that people and communities need to protect their health - through health promotion, prevention of disease, injury and disability, and preparedness for new health threats.

Prevention Research Center (PRC)

The Prevention Research Centers work as an interdependent network of community, academic, and public health partners to conduct prevention research and promote the wide use of practices proven to promote good health. RPRC:NCDHR has been a PRC since 2004.

Pathway to Practice (P2P) Resource Center

CDC developed the Pathway to Practice (P2P) Resource Center to centralize evidence-based strategies and interventions together with supporting materials, trainings, and tools developed in real-world practice settings. By making these resources easily accessible in one place, the P2P Resource Center helps researchers and practitioners learn about and implement best practices for their community public health programs.