Public Health Adaptive Systems Studies (PHASYS) is one of nine Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Centers (PERRC) funded through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) Office of Public Health Preparedness and Response (OPHPR), Extramural Research Program. Located in the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public Health (GSPH) Center for Public Health Practice, PHASYS is a multidisciplinary research group which draws faculty from GSPH, the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, the National Institute of Health's Models of Infectious Disease Agent Study (MIDAS) Center or Excellence, the GSPH Public Health Dynamics Laboratory, and personnel from the Health Officers Association of California.
The objective of PHASYS is to conduct research and develop resources that will enhance the emergency preparedness, response, and recovery capabilities of the public health system. PHASYS operates on the idea that one of the keys to a successful and effective public health system is its ability to adapt from it routine functioning in a disaster and/or emergency. In order to understand this adaptive response PHASYS takes two parallel approaches: (1) original research on criteria and metrics to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of the public health system and (2) agent-based modeling of the various aspects of the public health system. Utilizing an infectious disease outbreak as its initial focus, the research is now utilizing an all-hazards approach.
For more information on the PERRCs go to: