Vision & Program

Place matters - GRASP vision

GRASP champions a vision emphasizing the importance of place in public health and sustains a focus on sharing expertise, insight, data, and technology to advance the work of CDC/ATSDR and partners across the public health community.

Vision

Healthy people, thriving communities. Place matters.

The places of our lives – our homes, workplaces, schools, parks, and houses of worship – affect our quality of health, experience with disease, and sense of well-being.

Mission

GRASP leads the application of geospatial science, data, analysis, technology, and visualization at the intersection of place and health. The Program strengthens public health science and practice to protect communities from environmental exposures, prevent chronic and infectious disease, and promote a healthier built environment. GRASP enhances CDC/ATSDR public health emergency readiness, response, and recovery by providing geospatial expertise, guidance, and support.

Discover GRASP

For the past 30 years, the Geospatial Research, Analysis, and Services Program (GRASP) has pioneered the application of geospatial science, analysis, data, technology, and visualization to transform public health science and practice at CDC/ATSDR and across the public health community. Through the lens of place, GRASP studies patterns in time and space and expands novel uses of geospatial data and methods in public health. GRASP strengthens the use of integrated data by advancing place-based indices and sustaining interoperable technology within the public health ecosystem. Finally, GRASP cultivates a vibrant geospatial community at CDC/ATSDR and beyond.

Learn more about the history of GRASP

Patterns in time & space

Place, context, and geographic relationships have long been essential in informing a deeper understanding of public health at community, national, and global scales. Through the lens of place, GRASP scientists study patterns in the areas of contaminant exposure, environmental health, public health emergencies, infectious and chronic disease, and injury. Since 1989, GRASP has authored over 147 peer-reviewed publications comparing geographic variations of disease with environmental, demographic, behavioral, socioeconomic, genetic, and other risk factors. GRASP has also advanced novel applications of emerging data including population mobility data, electronic health records, satellite imagery, and synthetic population data.

Learn more at the GRASP Publication Library

GRASP Place & Health Index Portfolio

The GRASP Place & Health Index Portfolio features place-based indices enabling the public health community to apply the power of integrated data to science, program, and policy. Released in 2011, GRASP's CDC/ATSDR Social Vulnerability Index (SVI), enables scientists and planners to identify and characterize communities burdened by social factors rendering them poorly equipped to respond to health threats of all types. The SVI has been updated 7 times since 2001 and integrated into the work of partners at local, state, and national levels. GRASP's CDC/ATSDR Environmental Justice Index (EJI) was released in August 2022 and has been quickly adopted by the public health community to identify and confront environmental injustice. In May 2024, GRASP led the release of the CDC/ATSDR Heat and Health Index (HHI). The HHI is the first national tool that incorporates historical temperature, heat-related illness, and community characteristics data to identify areas most likely to experience negative health outcomes from heat. Going forward, GRASP will focus on expanding the use of each index within science and practice at all organizational levels across the public health community.

Learn: Social Vulnerability Index | Environmental Justice Index | Heat & Health Index

Transforming data for science - GRASP analysis & visualization

Over the past decade, the emergence and democratization of geospatial data, tools, and techniques have expanded novel uses of geospatial data and prompted scientific inquiry to develop a deeper understanding of the health we experience. GRASP geospatial (GIS) analysts use geospatial methods to analyze and transform place-based data for use in public health science and practice. To foster an understanding of place & time dynamics, GRASP designs and shares maps and interactive visualizations. In the future, GRASP plans to expand the use of activity space and population mobility data to enhance ATSDR exposure estimates, inform NCEH surveillance, and refine built-environment measures of access to healthcare, healthy food, and more.

Accelerating data into action - GRASP technology

The GRASP Digital Ecosystem features two interoperable platforms – CDC/ATSDR OneMap and the GRASP Data Analysis & Visualization Platform (DAV-P). Both platforms equip CDC/ATSDR to develop dashboards that share data and tools that accelerate research, decision-making, interventions, and policy development. Each platform offers a range of options in customization, cost, and deployment speed. GRASP DAV-P hosts applications supporting the mission of partners across CDC/ATSDR. Notably, GRASP and the CDC COVID-19 Response led development of the CDC COVID Data Tracker, a GRASP DAV-P application serving as CDC's primary channel to share data on the scope and progression of the pandemic. GRASP's OneMap, an installation of widely used commercial software, enables CDC/ATSDR to rapidly share data, maps, and tools to groups ranging from project teams to the general public. OneMap hosts CDC PHOENIX, an internal application informing CDC emergency response and supports the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) Dashboard and the Environmental Justice Index (EJI) Explorer. Widely used by the public, OneMap is also heavily used by 647 users at CDC/ATSDR and among our STLT partners.

Exploring a collaboration with GRASP

The evolution the importance of geospatial science and technology in public health has prompted the growth and diversification of GRASP to feature expertise in geography, GIS analysis, epidemiology, environmental science, cartography, geospatial statistics, computer science, remote sensing, emergency preparedness & response, and more. GRASP has grown into the largest nucleus of geospatial expertise at CDC/ATSDR and sustains partnerships across CDC/ATSDR, and among HHS, federal agencies, STLT organizations, NGOs, advocacy groups, and academia. GRASP partnerships range from consultations to long-term collaborative partnerships extending years, even decades.

To explore collaborating with GRASP, contact placeandhealth@cdc.gov.