Five-Year Report: ASTHO’s Peer-to-Peer Fellowship Program Connecting Non-Funded Health Agencies with the CDC Tracking Network

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In 2009, shortly after the official release of the CDC National Tracking Network, the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO), in partnership with CDC, launched the first installment of the Environmental Public Health Tracking Peer-to-Peer Fellowship Program. Since its launch, ASTHO’s fellowship program has helped build capacity of non-funded state and local health agencies across the nation improve their readiness for tracking. In the application year 2009, ASTHO awarded three fellowships to principal investigators from Louisiana, Michigan, and District of Columbia state health departments. In 2010, investigators from Delaware, Georgia, North Carolina, Kentucky, and West Virginia state health departments were awarded fellowships, and in 2011, ASTHO awarded fellowships to Virginia, Ohio, Arizona, Indiana, and Cincinnati. An additional five health agencies in Alabama, Fairfax County, Idaho, Nebraska, and Oklahoma received awards to join the program in 2012. The program continues to serve as a means by which state and local health agencies can prepare for tracking and connect with existing Tracking Programs.

ASTHO Tracking Fellows gain first-hand tracking experience from CDC grantees, attend CDC National Tracking Workshops, build peer networks and collaborations, and develop projects that would advance tracking in their states and locales. This presentation will reflect on the first five years of the program and will report on the progress Tracking Fellows have made to conduct tracking. Mentorship and capacity-building opportunities that the ASTHO Tracking Fellowship Program offers on an annual basis will also be discussed.