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Public Health
Westat’s data science and multicenter approach enables clients to make groundbreaking medical advances to prevent, diagnose, and treat communicable and noncommunicable diseases. For decades, our commitment has remained unchanged: use our research expertise to protect and improve the public’s health.
Overview
Diabetes. Obesity. Depression. These are among the top public health challenges that influence the research of our premier interdisciplinary public health professionals and epidemiologists. Fueled by our evidence-based research approach on preventing, diagnosing, and treating infectious and chronic diseases and other conditions, Westat works to support our clients in finding ways to determine how best to protect and improve the health of society at large. Westat provides expertise in surveillance, program interventions, communication, and evaluation. We apply our knowledge, continually demonstrating our ability to quickly adjust to unforeseen research challenges and our commitment to absolute transparency.
Our Expertise
Coordinating Centers
Coordinating centers are a key part of multicenter research initiatives. They are centralized hubs that pool complex biomedical and administrative data from multiple research centers, then aggregate, manage, and analyze the data, and finally make the data accessible to researchers. Our management of coordinating centers helps collate public health data to provide insights on a range of issues.
Disease Surveillance
Westat leverages its expertise in epidemiology, statistics, and public health to enhance disease surveillance. By monitoring trends, identifying sentinel events, and tracking key metrics, we equip decisionmakers with vital situational awareness. Collaborating with federal and state agencies, we employ rigorous methodologies in both traditional and innovative data collection and analysis, delivering timely insights to drive public health action.
Health Communications
What motivates people to improve their health? We employ a research-driven communications framework to create targeted messaging and successful campaigns to influence people to change their health behaviors. Our social marketing strategy and outreach plans, guided by data and best practices, include digital strategies, traditional and social media, partnership engagement, knowledge transfer, website and app development, and multimedia and data visualization.
International Health
We apply our expertise in health research to contribute to a healthier world. Our research provides data that inform on many urgent issues. We have delivered findings on how best to strengthen cancer research and how to build a rapid research response capability to address emerging threats to the blood supply.
Maternal Health
Maternal health is crucial for the well-being of women and their babies. Despite being a high-income country, the U.S. has a disturbingly high rate of preventable maternal deaths. Additionally, tens of thousands of women experience severe pregnancy-related complications each year, which can lead to long-term health issues like high blood pressure, diabetes, and mental health conditions. Westat is committed to advancing maternal health through rigorous research and evaluation, technical assistance, and communications support. Our insights enhance policies and programs to increase access to high-quality maternal health care and improve care delivery for all women during and after childbirth.
Experts
Meet the Team
Projects
Keep Reading
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Can natural language processing improve the completeness of immunization data? -
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
How can we improve communication about medical device recalls? -
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
How can AI and scientific experts collaborate on innovative health approaches?
Insights
Deep Dive with Our Experts
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Perspective
Leveraging Quantum Computing to Accelerate Biomedical InnovationsMarch 2025
Quantum computing is poised to revolutionize health care and biomedical research, making a tangible impact on Americans’ everyday lives. By rapidly analyzing vast genetic and…
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Expert Interview
Designing Accessible DashboardsAugust 2024
Combing through hundreds of spreadsheets to analyze trends and patterns in the data can be a daunting task. Clients often find this process time-consuming and…
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Perspective
Access to Birthing-Friendly Facilities for Maternal CareFebruary 2024
Preventable maternal mortality in the U.S. has grown considerably and spurred the federal government into action. Growing rates of maternal mortality and morbidity adversely affecting…