About Us

The Texas A&M School of Rural Public Health (now named the Texas A&M School of Public Health) was called upon to address the public health preparedness and response needs of Texas following 9/11. This involvement in preparedness began a 20-year collaboration with the Texas Department of State Health Services that continues to this day..

In 2007, the Texas A&M System Board of Regents officially approved the establishment of the USA Center for Rural Public Health Preparedness as an organizational unit within the Texas A&M Health Science Center. The USA Center serves as a broad umbrella for multiple funded public health emergency preparedness projects and activities including education and training, community engagement, program evaluation and technical assistance.

The USA Center has been awarded nearly $12 million in funding, which includes two CDC Public Health Preparedness Centers, as well as multiple contracts with the Texas Department of State Health Services, local and regional health departments and the South Dakota Department of Health. This work has also led to collaborations with both Maine and New Hampshire Departments of Health and Human Services, the University of Texas School of Public Health, the University of North Texas School of Public Health, tribal partnerships in both Texas and South Dakota, as well as an award from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation for work with broader public health access issues within the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe.