"Our selection to participate in this important effort recognizes Indiana's established leadership in using health information technology for public health improvement," said Overhage, director of medical informatics at the Regenstrief Institute and president and CEO of the Indiana Health Information Exchange. "We will be expanding upon Regenstrief's work with the Marion County Health Department and Indiana State Department of Health and scaling it up to a national level."

Grannis' research focuses on syndromic and bio-terrorism surveillance. He leads a multi-year project to integrate health data from more than 110 hospitals throughout Indiana for use in disease surveillance and has worked with other states, including Texas and Michigan, to develop statewide data-sharing initiatives.

"This work represents an opportunity to improve the health of our community and disseminate best practices to the nation," said Grannis, a Regenstrief Institute informatician and an assistant professor of family medicine at the IU School of Medicine.

The Regenstrief Institute is an internationally recognized informatics and healthcare research organization. Established in Indianapolis by philanthropist Sam Regenstrief in 1969 on the campus of the IU School of Medicine, the institute is supported by the Regenstrief Foundation and closely affiliated with the IU School of Medicine.