Poulsbo’s Paladin Data Systems Corporation recently announced the Department of Defense Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program (PRMRP), has recommended funding for an Infectious Disease Tracking System in the Puget Sound area.

The federal grant money, $2.5 million of which Senator Patty Murray secured in the fiscal year 2003 Defense Appropriations bill with a follow-on of additional $1.8 million in the fiscal year 2004 Defense Appropriations bill, will support the design, development, deployment and management of a regional public health surveillance system that integrates both automated and manual data collection techniques across both military and civilian populations.

Paladin nd the Foundation for Healthcare Quality submitted a proposal to the DoD PRMRP in April and were notified recently that their proposal received funding based on the high scientific merit and relevance to the programmatic goals of the PRMRP.

Public Health has long been focused on the ability to quickly identify epidemic diseases and intervene to protect public safety rapidly and as efficiently as possible. However, the public health arena currently lacks the type of information infrastructure needed to guide an immediate holistic response to a bio-terrorism event. The goal of this project is to integrate a diverse collection of public and Department of Defense reporting and analysis technologies to provide faster, more reliable information sharing.