The Centers for Public Health Preparedness (CPHP) program was established in 2000 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to strengthen bioterrorism and emergency preparedness by linking academic expertise to state and local health agency needs.
The original CPHP program closed in August 2010 and was replaced by the Preparedness and Emergency Response Learning Centers (PERLC) cooperative agreement program.
In order to "enhance the public health practice activities within schools of public health," the CDC established a program called Academic Centers for Public Health Preparedness (A-CPHP) in 2000. These centers were awarded through a competitive submission process to four schools of public health (Saint Louis University, University of Alabama-Birmingham, University of California at Los Angeles and the University of Oklahoma). These initially funded centers formed a nucleus upon which to build a response to the events on September 11, 2001. Yet, with nearly 450,000 public health professionals dispersed throughout more than 3,000 state and local health agencies expected to protect the health of the U.S. population against threats that were previously considered unthinkable, the magnitude of the problem demanded more vigorous collaboration between the academy and the practice community. In 2001, the CDC and the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH) added resources to the A-CPHP that allowed for the stepwise expansion of the program to more schools of public health.
In 2009, there were 27 Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH)-accredited schools of public health with established and funded centers:
Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health - Center for Public Health PreparednessEmory University - Emory Center for Public Health PreparednessHarvard University - Center for Public Health PreparednessJohns Hopkins University - Center for Public Health PreparednessLoma Linda University School of Public Health - Center for Public Health PreparednessSaint Louis University - Saint Louis University Heartland Center for Public Health PreparednessTexas A&M Health Science Center School of Rural Public Health - USA Center for Rural Public Health PreparednessOhio State University - Ohio Center for Public Health PreparednessTulane University - South Central Center for Public Health PreparednessUniversity of Alabama at Birmingham - South Central Center for Public Health PreparednessUniversity at Albany, SUNY - University at Albany Center for Public Health PreparednessUniversity of Arizona - College of Public HealthUniversity of California, Berkeley - Center for Infectious Disease PreparednessUniversity of California, Los Angeles - Center for Public Health and DisastersUniversity of Illinois at Chicago - Illinois - Public Health Preparedness CenterUniversity of Iowa - Upper Midwest Preparedness and Emergency Response Learning CenterUniversity of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey - New Jersey Center for Public Health Preparedness at UMDNJUniversity of Michigan School of Public Health - Michigan Center for Public Health Preparedness (MI-CPHP)University of Minnesota - Center for Public Health PreparednessUniversity of North Carolina - Center for Public Health PreparednessUniversity of Oklahoma - Southwest Center for Public Health PreparednessUniversity of Pittsburgh - Center for Public Health PreparednessUniversity of South Carolina - Center for Public Health PreparednessUniversity of South Florida - Florida Center for Public Health PreparednessUniversity of Texas - Center for Biosecurity and Public Health PreparednessUniversity of Washington - Northwest Center for Public Health PreparednessYale University - Center for Public Health Preparedness