The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Princeton, New Jersey, has awarded a $3.68 million grant to the National Library of Medicine to develop future public health leaders in the science of public health informatics.

The library has a longstanding history of training biomedical informatics researchers and professionals. The grant from RWJF will support educational training sites at four universities — Columbia, the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, the University of Utah, and the University of Washington — where students will receive training in basic information science, public health principles, and applying informatics to public health problems, as well as on-site experience with public health agencies.

"The health of our communities is threatened if we cannot effectively analyze and share critical information among public health agencies, hospitals, and community health providers," said RWJF president and CEO Risa Lavizzo-Mourey. "This collaboration will help prepare new leaders to be the architects of sophisticated information systems that can help public health officials respond to emergencies and save lives."