Governors play an important role in improving infectious disease preparedness and response efforts at state and territory levels. H5N1 Bird Flu and Measles cases are only a few of the many infectious disease trends the National Governors Association (NGA) Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) has tracked.
US territories are often more vulnerable to natural disasters, experience higher rates of dual disease (communicable and non-communicable) burdens, and encounter technology limitations that hinder the quality and accessibility of healthcare services, training, and resources. In light of these unique challenges, NGA is committed to providing best practices and technical support to territories and commonwealths in helping strengthen emergency preparedness infrastructure to track, prepare, and respond to infectious disease emergencies as they arise.
The NGA Center, with support from the Johns Hopkins Center for Outbreak Response Innovation (CORI), launched a policy academy to help Governors’ offices enhance disease forecasting and outbreak response and prevention capabilities. During the project period, June 2025 – June 2026, Academy participants had the opportunity to delve into the tools and resources available to aid in improved decision-making and effective policy solutions when infectious disease outbreaks occur.
The NGA Center and the Center for Outbreak Response Innovation Policy Academy was supported through Cooperative Agreement NU38FT000004 between CDC’s Center for Forecasting and Outbreak Analytics and Johns Hopkins University’s Bloomberg School of Public Health launched the Strengthening Outbreak Response through Data, Forecasting, and Analytics Policy Academy.
Through the policy academy, selected offices:
- Participated in a kick-off meeting and wrap-up meeting;
- Attended quarterly virtual learning and peer-sharing opportunities;
- Engaged with the NGA Center/ CORI team to develop strategic action plans to implement new strategies or strengthen existing ones;
- Worked with the NGA Center/CORI team to identify modeling, analytics, and/or decision support tools that participants can test, refine, and implement to aid decision-support in outbreaks and other infectious disease emergencies;
- Requested ongoing technical assistance from the NGA Center/ CORI staff and partners in support of project goals, and
- Participated in optional tabletop exercises to test modeling, analytics, and decision-support.
Participating Governors’ Offices’ Priorities & Focus Areas
American Samoa: Build a resilient, data-informed public health system to protect all residents, particularly in underserved and geographically isolated areas.
- Infectious disease data integration, decision-support tool modernization, and cross-agency collaboration
Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI): Strengthen the commonwealth’s infectious disease forecasting and outbreak response capabilities through proactive, data-driven decision making.
- Strategic planning/taskforce development, decision-support tools, cross-agency collaboration
Guam: Address gaps in modeling and analytics capabilities to effectively equip Guam with substantive decision-making tools in the event of a public health emergency
- Assessing and improving vaccination strategies, infectious disease modeling, and strategic planning
Please contact Grace Burns and Asia Riviere for more information on the Policy Academy.
Resources : Governors Public Health Emergency Playbook | CORI Resources for Governors
