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Joe Kanter:
With that, like to ask Miss Sara Patterson to come up. She’s the acting Director of the CDC Public Health Infrastructure Center. Previously, she was the Deputy Director for Management, Operations, Communications, and Policy in the same center. She’s had a number of leadership positions in the CDC before, including Acting Chief Operating Officer, and she’s a close partner and a big advocate for public health, so please give me a warm welcome to Sarah.

Sara Patterson:
Thank you. I’m new to reading glasses, so thanks, Lindsey, because I realize I didn’t have them.

First, I just want to say thank you so much for the words of support about the shooting on August 8. And I know I addressed this for those of you who were at the DMI session yesterday. I addressed it there, but many of you weren’t there, and I just want to say a couple of things about it.

One is the outpouring of support that we have received from our partners, from the public health community, from other sectors, which has been so meaningful and just incredibly valuable to us. It’s a very difficult time, not just for us, for the entire public health community, and it really means a lot to know that we stand together.

And I think that’s one thing about being here with all of you, is this feeling that we’re together, that we’re in this together, that we’re working together, that public health matters, and that what we do is really important, and that we are here to support the health of the nation.

I also want to acknowledge not only Officer David Rose and His sacrifice, and I heard some of you sort of react when Joe mentioned his family, and it’s really devastating that loss of his life. There is a memorial service that’s open to the public on Friday, and you can stream it if you’re interested in watching it. But it’s a terrible, terrible, senseless, tragic loss for the Atlanta community, for the law enforcement community, and for us. He was protecting public health. He was protecting our people, and it was just really awful that that happened. And I also just want to thank the law enforcement, security, and other staff who helped respond to that event that day. It was very traumatic for the people who were there, and they’re going to be processing that trauma for a long time. And even the people who weren’t there are traumatized by the situation and are having a hard time navigating and managing.

CDC leadership is working to make sure our staff feel supported and safe, and we have a ways to go for folks to feel better about going into work, but we’re going to do the work together. And I think the tremendous community that we feel as a result of this is maybe the only potential for a silver lining. It just feels like we’re all really here together, here physically and really all together emotionally.

So thank you again to everybody that has reached out and supported us, and just to my CDC colleagues, thank you for being here virtually and in person, because I know it’s been a rough time for us, and it’s sort of hard to move forward at times. But we’re here, and we’re very excited to be here. We’re also very excited that the meeting was able to happen.

I just want to start beyond those remarks by welcoming you to St. Louis, and I’m not going to talk about Percy Jackson again, but if you haven’t seen the Percy Jackson series, you should watch it. And there’s a very poignant moment that happens in the St Louis Arch.

I am also just very excited to have been here for the last day or so for the data modernization discussions. I noticed the data modernization folks cheered the loudest, and I couldn’t figure out if that was like an augmenting of energy, or if y’all are just really excited to be here, but it was great to see the evaluators and the DMI folks were the kind of biggest, so we might have to do that again and see how everybody measures up.

I’m really excited about the agenda that we have planned here for the next few days. There’s a lot that we need to learn from each other.

I was able to stop by the principal investigator’s session this morning and take some questions and talk with folks, and just hearing what you’re thinking about, what you’re dealing with, how you’re planning, is super important for us to be able to do at CDC, along with our national partners, we’re all learning together.

This is a new undertaking, as Joe mentioned, this is like a once-in-a-generation opportunity, and we want to make sure not only that we use the money well, but that we’re also telling the story of what we can accomplish together, what we have accomplished together, and learning for the future, so that as we’re planning.

For new iterations of this program that we’re really thinking about: What do we learn about the operations? What do we learn about the way that we all work together? What do we need more of? What do we need less of?

I think I know what you need less of, although you can still share it, but we do get a lot of feedback about things like reporting and approvals and things like that. So very much looking forward to that opportunity to learn this week.

I also just want to note that one of the things that I love about these sessions is, in addition to sort of hearing your stories, the ability for us to tell that story better together. One of the things we talked about this morning was our ability to share with people outside of public health decision makers. How do we use these funds? What do we do with these funds? What is the story of PHIG, and how do we want that story to be shared across the country so that we can continue to get support? I love the fact that the PHIG has allowed us to support things like workforce and foundational capabilities and data, where we really haven’t had large investments in the past.

I also love how closely PHIG works with other programs, such as ELC and PHAB. And this morning, there was talk about some of the Rural Health Transformation funding that’s coming out of CMS. Y’all are doing cross-sector work. You’re doing work across your health departments, and that is such an important part of these funds and the way that we’re all working together, which gives us an opportunity to learn. It gives us an opportunity to expand our reach and to connect.

And I just am so appreciative of every story that we have coming out of this work. The partnerships are critical, and it’s at every level, too. It’s not only what you’re doing at the state, local, and jurisdictional level, but it’s also the partnerships across the national organizations, the partnerships that CDC has formed with many organizations. It feels kind of like an all together effort that we’re all working toward one goal, which is to really build and bolster the infrastructure of our country. And it makes me really excited to be a part of that.

One other thing that I’ll just mention is, I know there’s a lot of budget uncertainty, and people have a lot of questions about the future of funding, and I’m very excited to say that our FY the fiscal year 2026, president’s budget does include support for the public health infrastructure and capacity line, which supports primarily the foundational capabilities.

We also have funding in the 2026 budget for data modernization. And I know there’s been a lot of supplemental funding that has gone into the PHIG, and that’s going to that’s going to taper off after a while, but we do see a strong future and a strong support for public health foundational capabilities.

We also heard it in Dr Menarez’s confirmation hearing, and in many discussions we’ve had, that foundational capabilities, public health infrastructure, is important the workforce are important. And so we’re really hopeful and excited about the future, even though we know that it’s a bit of an uncertain future; there’s a lot of budget uncertainties. There are a lot of other uncertainties.

The last thing that I just want to thank you for is the open and honest discussion that you’ve had with us, with our team, Ursula, and her team. I know, meet with many of you regularly, and all the different groups that are involved in all the different communities. There is a lot to coordinate and navigate here. We work closely with the Office of Public Health Data Systems and Surveillance and Technology. I don’t know their name, but I’m very close with them. Unfortunately, we don’t ever use the real names of things, OPHDST. But Jen and I have worked closely together for several years and have built a lot of this together.

And I’m very excited about the partnership, and hearing about like the implementation centers for DMI and all of the work that’s happening makes me very excited and very hopeful. And I just really appreciate all of these collaborations. I appreciate the opportunity to hear from you, and I’m really looking forward to learning more over the next couple of days. So with that, I’m going to turn it over to my close colleague and friend, Ursula Phoenix Weir, who’s going to talk to you a little bit more about the program and what to expect. Thank you.

Ursula Phoenix Weir:
One of us is all of us. One of us is all of us. Sarah Patterson shared those words with us last week in the days after the terrible events of August 8, and they’ve stayed with me, not just because they’re true, but because they capture exactly what we strive for in this work.

We succeed when we stand together. We carry each other through the hardest moments, and we celebrate each other’s wins.

To Sarah, thank you for your compassion and your leadership this past week. Thank you, Dr. Kanter, for your remarks, and to Officer David Rose, who gave his life in the line of duty. His service and His sacrifice remind us of the deep connections between public service and public health when one of us is impacted, all of us are. So this gathering is about that same Spirit coming together to strengthen our shared work, to support one another, and to move public health forward.

Despite the recent events, it is actually a joy to be with you this week at my very first PHIG Recipient Convening again.

I’m Ursula Phoenix Weir, and I have the privilege of serving as the Branch Chief for the Public Health Infrastructure Capacity Building Implementation Branch, where PHIG lives. That’s a mouthful as well.

Being here in St Louis brings back some memories for me as well. I actually visited the arches as a child. I was about 10 years old, and I remember stepping into that tiny tram car, inching our way to the top. I saw the Mississippi River in the distance. I saw back then they had this floating McDonald’s boat. Don’t do the math, many years ago, but it was the Mississippi River that stuck in my mind. It was vast. It is vast. It’s it’s grounded in history.

All of that, in many ways, mirrors what we’re doing here this week, coming together from across the country. To step back, take a look at the bigger picture, large like the Mississippi River, and remember why this work matters.

So I stepped into this role last October, and it didn’t take long for me to realize how special and important this program is. In just a few months, I was able to learn all about the program through the wonderful, wonderful project officers, many of which are here today, and I’ve had the chance to see just how committed you are, not just to the work, but to the communities, your teams, your shared vision for what public health can and should be. I’ve seen those same project officers and recipients working shoulder to shoulder to navigate staffing challenges, launch new programs, and move dollars quickly where they’re needed most. You’ve done it with creativity and with heart and with a deep sense of responsibility.

PHIG is one of the most ambitious investments CDC has ever made in public health infrastructure. I’ve worked in public health long enough to know how hard this is, especially when you’re being tasked with building long-term systems while still responding to immediate needs.

As Sarah mentioned, we’ve made real progress, and you all made that possible, but I know that there’s more to do, and it’s going to take all of us to get it done. We’re now entering year four of the grant, as you know, and we’re operating in a very different environment than when we started. Even with ongoing uncertainty around federal funding, the work you’re doing now still matters. The workforce and core DMI funds you’ve had, you have real tools, tools that move programs forward, protect capacity, and set the stage for what’s next.

So looking ahead, the work doesn’t get easier, but it does get more important. You’re being asked to maintain what you’ve built, report on your impact, adjust to hiring priorities, adjust to shifting priorities, and prepare for what’s next. That’s a tall order, but here’s the thing: how we show up for the work now will shape how we show up for this work at the national level in the future. That means how we tell the story matters. It means how we document impact matters, and it means how we show our shared progress matters, not just for the future of PHIG, but how public health infrastructure is prioritized across the board.

So what does that look like? Keep investing in your people; the staff you’ve brought on through PHIG are driving change. Keep supporting them. Use your DMI core funds to strengthen what matters most. Focus on building systems that serve your needs and improve how you respond. Stay connected to your peers, to us, to the broader mission, and let’s keep showing that this work isn’t just urgent, it’s essential. Infrastructure isn’t an extra; it’s the thing that makes public health possible.

All right, so here’s my challenge to all of us, including myself: let’s keep our foot on the grass, on the gas. Let’s keep showing what’s possible when we center infrastructure in the community. Let’s be honest about the challenges, but just as bold about the progress that we’re making. And let’s keep reminding folks inside and outside that this work is worth it, that public health infrastructure isn’t a luxury, it’s the backbone of everything we do. And let’s do it together, because one of us is all of us.

Thank you again for all that you’re doing to get us here today and everything that you’re doing to keep us moving forward. Now I’d like to welcome to the stage, to the podium, I should say, Dr. Jennifer Layden, who serves as the Director of the Data Office. That’s the CDC Office of Public Health Data Surveillance and Technology. Thank you.

Jen Layden:
Thanks. It’s a great honor and opportunity to be here with you all. And thank you, Dr Kanter, for the really thoughtful words, meaningful words about the shooting that happened, the attack that happened on August 8, against the CDC and all of public health. And thanks to my colleagues for the kind words to speak to, and what’s really carried me through in the last week and a half has been the support of my CDC friends and colleagues in the whole public health community, standing together as we get through this, not just this event, but also really what has been impacting public health for the last eight and nine months.

As mentioned, I lead the data office and data modernization at CDC, but it’s with all of you and our partners in the infrastructure center. I can’t say their name either. So the Infrastructure Center has been a critical partners. It’s through the infrastructure grant that we’ve been able to invest over $810 million in jurisdictions and to the partners to support the data modernization effort.

That’s a tremendous amount of resources that we’ve been able to allocate, and we’ve already seen the impact and the benefits from these investments. I go back six, seven years, when I was a state epidemiologist in the state of Illinois, and at that time, we didn’t have, or we weren’t using, electronic case reporting. We were starting to use syndromic surveillance.

It took us months to understand mortality trends. Looking at our mortality data, we were still getting faxes from our public health and commercial labs to understand and identify urgent cases of things that we needed to act upon rapidly, and now we’re at a point, thanks to these investments, where all 50 states are receiving instantaneously, electronic case reporting from over 56,000 healthcare facilities across the nation.

That’s huge, and that’s for over not just our nationally notifiable conditions, 200 notifiable conditions. But I was really excited to hear yesterday, during the presentations, how jurisdictions are starting to use that for understanding birth defect surveillance.

So leveraging this technology, this core infrastructure that we’ve built, not just for infectious disease, but all sorts of conditions, whether it’s birth defects. I’ve seen it used for opioid overdoses and mortality, for Cancer Surveillance.

So tremendous assets and opportunity for public health to connect with healthcare to improve how we do our jobs, how we work with healthcare, and protect our communities. We’ve seen how syndromic surveillance is used for heat-related illnesses and to identify trends in opioid related illnesses in communities, and how that’s changing. The way not just public health works, but communities work. The clinicians, pharmacies, schools, and community-based organizations all rely on the data and infrastructure we’re investing in.

I often get asked the question of why data modernization is so important, and it really goes back to data is at the core, it’s a core infrastructure of what we do, whether it’s that test result that comes in to identify someone as a suspect rabies case that you need to get prophylaxis to or a test that identifies someone as a Legionella case that may warrant a investigation into a place that could expose others, or looking at trends of opioid related illnesses. It’s exciting.

We’ve seen thanks to the work of public health, we’ve seen opioid related deaths go down over the last several years, and we’re able to tell that story because of data, but it’s also data that helps us to drive decisions about where to put interventions, how to work with communities to help improve and protect and prevent other serious consequences. So thank you to all of you.

Thank you for the work that you’re doing. It was exciting to hear the presentations yesterday and hear how not just how the improvements are making the work of public health better, but how it’s also changing the workforce, how it’s changing the processes.

Yesterday, we heard from not just epidemiologists, but Informaticists, Chief Data Officers, and Health IT experts all coming together to solve a very complex problem, and it’s the work that you all do on the work that we all do together to continue to invest and improve our systems, to help protect our communities.

So looking forward to hearing the stories from all of you, learning from you, and hearing what we can do better to support the work that’s so essential to us. Continue to evolve and modernize public health. Thanks.

Avia Mason:
We appreciate you so much. Sarah, Ursula, and Dr. Layden for being with us. It means a lot to be able to have you here with us during this time to share and hear bi-directionally, so thank you again for your participation.