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NORC at the University Chicago
NORC combines our subject matter and data collection expertise to design and evaluate a variety of programs to track and mitigate health conditions and rapidly respond to novel outbreaks.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has made manifest, there is a critical need among policymakers, the scientific community, and the public for timely, reliable data on infectious diseases.

NORC conducts a range of research, surveillance, and program evaluations meant to help monitor and reduce the spread of infectious diseases.  As part of our ongoing efforts to improve public health infrastructure, we actively support state, tribal, local, and territorial (STLT) partners implement and evaluate data modernization efforts, such as electronic case reporting (eCR), onboarding to the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA), and expansion of Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) to facilitate secure data sharing across qualified health information networks (QHIN).

In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, we quickly adapted our telephone interview capacities to conduct contract tracing in Delaware and Maryland and added COVID-specific supplements to the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey. We also conducted a host of other COVID-specific research.

Since 2005, NORC has administered the National Immunization Survey for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, providing essential information on immunization rates. Our research scientists also evaluate a range of interventions and strategies for HIV prevention and treatment for populations, including older adults, military veterans, sexual and gender minority youth, and black men who have sex with men.

Disease Surveillance Experts

Highlighted Projects

American Cancer Society Patient Navigation Capacity Building Initiative

Enhancing patient navigation services to reduce cancer health disparities

Client:

American Cancer Society

International Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic

A study identifies effective practices in 5 countries, seeking guidance to support U.S. health care

Client:

Commonwealth Fund

Next Generation of Rare Disease Drug Policy

A white paper evaluating possible reforms to orphan drug development, pricing, and coverage

Client:

Institute for Clinical and Economic Review

Linking Occupational Injury and Illness Databases

Matching information in linked databases to improve federal efficiency on worker injuries

Client:

Bureau of Labor Statistics

Obesity Prevalence & Comorbidity Map

An interactive mapping tool offering insights into prevalence of obesity and related chronic diseases

Client:

Novo Nordisk

Improving and Enhancing U.S. Vision & Eye Health Surveillance

The most comprehensive system to track eye diseases and vision loss

Client:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Division of Diabetes Translation, Vision Health Initiative

COVID-19 Impact Survey

Providing real-time data collection during the onset of the pandemic

Client:

The Data Foundation

Survey of Today’s Adolescent Relationships and Transitions

Understanding sexual behavior of Black and Latino young men to prevent HIV

Client:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Adolescent and School Health

Network-Driven COVID-19 Prevention for Vulnerable Populations (RADx-UP)

Randomized control trials to evaluate network-based approaches to promote COVID-19 prevention

Client:

National Institute of Drug Abuse

Understanding the Importance of Consistent Medicaid Coverage

A pandemic moratorium on Medicaid disenrollment allows for a unique study

Client:

Association for Community Affiliated Plans

Developing Tools for Sexual and Gender Minority Youth

Analyzing survey data to inform HIV prevention materials that engage minority adolescents

Client:

Division of Adolescent and School Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The Impact of COVID-19 on Senior Housing

A study of COVID-19 mortality by type of setting and level of care

Client:

National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care

The Minnesota COVID-19 Antibody Study

Collecting blood samples and survey data to track the spread of coronavirus in Minnesota

Client:

University of Minnesota

Expanding Hearing Loss Education & Awareness

The nation’s first ever state- and county-level hearing loss prevalence estimates

Client:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Maryland COVID-19 Contact Tracing

Quickly creating a state-of-the-art statewide program to track coronavirus cases

Client:

Maryland Department of Health

The Chicago RECOVER Serology Study

Examining COVID-19’s impact on Chicagoans to better understand the most affected communities

Client:

University of Chicago

Dementia DataHub: Visualizing Diagnosed Dementia in Medicare

The nation’s first data system reporting cases of people with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias

Client:

National Institute on Aging

AHRQ Safety Program for MRSA Prevention

Scaling and evaluating an evidence-based approach to MRSA prevention in hospitals and long-term care facilities

Client:

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP)

The nation’s most comprehensive source of hospital care data

Client:

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality

National Immunization Surveys (NIS)

One of the nation’s largest phone surveys and the gold standard for data on U.S. immunization rates

Client:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases

BLAAC PD Study Recruitment and Engagement Support

Technical assistance for efforts to transform the understanding of Parkinson’s genetics

Funder:

Aligning Science Across Parkinson’s (ASAP)

Maryland Statewide Prevention and Reduction Collaborative (SPARC)

Implementation and assessment support for a learning collaborative focused on Maryland acute care hospitals

Client:

University of Maryland, Baltimore

Mental Illness and Substance Use Disorders in California

A qualitative study of people with dual diagnoses for the California Health Care Foundation

Client:

California Health Care Foundation

Older Adults Awareness of New RSV Vaccine & Willingness to Receive It

Americans over 50 increasingly aware of RSV vaccine but still divided on whether to receive it

Funder:

NORC at the University of Chicago

Healthy Illinois Survey

One of the largest state-level health surveys in the United States, providing high-resolution information for all of Illinois

Client:

Illinois Department of Public Health