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Professor of Health Administration and Policy Alison Cuellar has been appointed Chair of the Federal Community Preventative Services Task Force (CPSTF). The task force is an independent, nonfederal, and nonpartisan panel that identifies evidence-based community-focused programs, services, and policies that save lives, increase longevity, and improve quality of life.
“I’m proud to Chair the Community Preventative Services Task Force and of the valuable service the task force provides to public health,” said Cuellar. “My work with the CPSTF closely aligns with my research, which focuses on the effectiveness and efficiency of national and state policies and programs. This work helps to ensure that communities invest in and develop practices that are evidence-based and will positively impact as many lives as possible.”
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services established the CPSTF in 1996 to develop evidence-based guidance on which community-based health promotion and disease prevention intervention approaches work and which do not work. CPSTF recommendations are based on a systematic review process that evaluates all existing evidence on the effectiveness and economic efficiency of these programs, services, and policies. CPSTF members represent a broad range of research, practice, and policy expertise in community preventive services, public health, health promotion, and disease prevention.
The task force publishes its recommendations, including its 2021 Report to Congress, on The Community Guide. It is currently reviewing family-based interventions to prevent substance use among youth, multi-tiered interventions to create trauma-informed schools, and fruit and vegetable incentive programs, among others.
Cuellar’s nomination to become chair, which is a three-year term, was approved by the Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Dr. Rochelle Walensky. Cuellar became vice chair in 2020. The CPSTF is supported by 32 liaison organizations that represent federal agencies, including the Armed Forces, and national organizations invested in America’s health. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provide the CPSTF with scientific and administrative support.