The Johns Hopkins university applied physics laboratory Center of Excellence in Public Health Informatics

For the past 10 years, APL has been supporting the public health disease surveillance mission by developing and implementing automated applications to acquire, process, and present data using modern information technology. The effort grew from a modest independent research and development activity to APL's receiving an award as one of the National Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Centers of Excellence in Public Health Informatics. This issue presents some of the recent work being performed within the Center. This article provides an introduction to disease surveillance and the work within the JHU/APL Center of Excellence in Public Health Informatics.