New CDC Research Data Center Set to Open

CDC will soon open its new Research Data Center (RDC) in Atlanta. The center will expand access to a wide range of statistical products on health and well being for public, private and academic researchers.

The Atlanta-based RDC includes data available through the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) data systems and other federal resources, including the National Health Interview Survey, the National Survey of Family Growth, the Vaccine Safety Datalink, mortality data, Medicare enrollment data, Census data and other data resources.

With the opening of the Atlanta RDC, CDC will expand its network of secure research facilities around the country to 11. Another CDC location is headquartered in Hyattsville, Maryland, and nine other research centers are located at federal and academic institutions in the following cities:

• Ann Arbor, Michigan
• Berkeley, California
• Cambridge, Massachusetts
• Chicago, Illinois
• Durham, North Carolina
• Ithaca, New York
• Los Angeles, California
• New York City, NY
• Washington, DC

The "opening of the RDC in Atlanta was made possible by the tireless dedication of many colleagues throughout CDC, and they deserve our gratitude. I am especially excited about the opportunities the RDC will bring to the scientific community as we strive to protect people's health and improve the quality of their lives," said Tanja Popovic, MD, PhD, chief science officer.

She added, "The data that will be made available through this center is a significant element of our national public health infrastructure, providing important surveillance information that helps identify critical health problems."

The Atlanta RDC provides secure access to NCHS data systems, while protecting the confidentiality of the respondents and records. To use the RDC and access the restricted data, researchers must submit a proposal to the RDC director. The proposal is then evaluated by a review committee for feasibility, content and disclosure risk. The review process takes approximately 6 to 8 weeks. Researchers also must pay set-up and programming fees to access the requested data.

"With the growing amount of health-related information available, particularly those data that are geographically referenced, the Atlanta-based RDC will provide a more simple and effective method for CDC and external researchers to inventory, access and manage geographically referenced health information data," said Peter Meyer, director of CDC's Atlanta- and Washington, D.C.-based Research Data Centers. "Most exciting is that the new RDC will provide qualified university and college researchers with access to a wealth of analyses, including geospatial, genomic, health disparities for specific populations and prevalence for rarer diseases."

More information is available about the NCHS RDC. To learn more about other RDC resources and locations, visit the US Census Bureau Center for Economic Studies.