Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists

Vision and mission

CSTE is committed to improving public health by supporting epidemiologists at state and local levels to influence programs and policy based on science and data. It promotes effective use of epidemiologic data to guide practice and improve health through training, capacity development, peer consultation, developing practice standards, and advocating for resources and scientifically based policy. CSTE has worked with the CDC on Case Definitions for Public Health Surveillance and Chronic Disease Indicators.

Activities

CSTE holds an annual conference, the largest gathering of applied epidemiologists in the nation, with 1,400 attendees in 2015. It runs the CDC/CSTE Applied Epidemiology Fellowship for recent master's or doctoral graduates interested in state or local public health practice. Through the SHINE Fellowships, it offers three programs: the Applied Public Health Informatics Fellowship, Health Systems Integration Program, and Informatics-Training in Place.

Thirty steering committees and subcommittees facilitate member-driven activities including resource development, workshops, webinars, and collaborative projects. CSTE engages in federal advocacy for workforce capacity needs of health departments. Its position statements effect national epidemiologic policy change through state representative review and voting. Every two years, CSTE conducts an Epidemiology Capacity Assessment surveying state, local, and tribal epidemiologists across nine program areas.

It annually surveys all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and six territories for the State Reportable Conditions Assessment. CSTE develops and stewards surveillance indicators for environmental health, occupational health, chronic diseases, injury epidemiology, and other areas. It also provides global technical assistance, including rapid deployment for international activities such as Ebola Virus Disease and influenza epidemiology.