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Concurrent Technologies Corporation Awarded Contract to Support the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention with Readiness Efforts

Posted on: Thursday, 28 May 2009, 13:23 CDT

JOHNSTOWN, Pa., May 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Edward J. Sheehan, Jr., President & Chief Executive Officer of Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC), announced today that CTC has been awarded a contract with a potential value of $90,000 and a six-month period of performance. Mr. Sheehan made this announcement to kick off Johnstown's Annual Showcase for Commerce. Under this contract, CTC will provide the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with Information Technology (IT) support in an effort to develop a User Requirements Document (URD) for the International Health Regulations (IHR) Monitoring Utility. "CTC is very pleased to have been awarded this important and timely contract. The healthcare industry is of great interest to our organization, and this contract will help us enter the market and diversify our client base," said Mr. Sheehan.

"In the globalized world," explained Kamal Gella, Program Manager at CTC, "the effects of disease can quickly spread. A health crisis in one country can impact not just public health but livelihoods and economies in many parts of the world. Such crises can result from emerging infections like we saw with Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) a few years ago or most recently, H1N1."

In June 2007, 194 members of the World Health Organization (WHO) (including the U.S.) signed the IHR, an international legally-binding instrument that aims to prevent and respond to acute public health threats with the potential for international spread. "The CDC is taking the lead on making the IHR work, and CTC will assist with the effort," Mr. Gella explained. "The first step of any effective response strategy is to know where you currently stand, and this is why the CDC will endeavor to make a Web-based tool that will help member organizations report on eight stages of readiness."

With the IHR, Member States are required to assess eight core alert and response capacities for the early detection and response to a public health event. The eight core capacities are: national legislation, policy coordination, surveillance, preparedness, response, risk communication, laboratory, and human resources. These are measured for sectors that include infectious disease, zoonosis, food safety, chemical, and radio-nuclear. "As you can see," says Mr. Gella, "creating a clear snapshot of readiness for 154 countries is complicated. To this end, CDC and CTC are working together to establish the requirements for a Web-based IHR Monitoring Utility that will ultimately serve as a 'dashboard' for the WHO. We are currently working on developing a URD that will be the first step in designing an automated dashboard system."

"The fact that the CDC awarded this competitively bid contract to CTC is indicative of the company's emergence as one of the nation's premier technology organizations," stated U.S. Representative John P. Murtha (D-PA 12). "I am pleased to see CTC diversify into new markets within the Federal government," Murtha added.

Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC) is an independent, nonprofit, applied scientific research and development professional services organization providing innovative management and technology-based solutions to government and industry. As a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization, CTC's primary purpose and programs are to undertake applied scientific research and development activities that serve the public interest. For more information, visit www.ctc.com.

SOURCE Concurrent Technologies Corporation

Source: PR Newswire

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