We are so excited about all the possibilities this blog has for the future.  For those of you who are new to the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) Research Data Center (RDC), we are the gatekeepers to some of the most sought after health data in the field today. Visit our websites to learn more about NCHS (www.cdc.gov/nchs) or the RDC (www.cdc.gov/rdc). 

Linking up with the NCHS RDC provides the research community with a variety of opportunities including making connections, creating research teams, improving upon best practices, or discussing idiosyncrasies of the surveys, confidentiality and disclosure. The primary writers of the blog will be RDC staff, but we will also feature RDC researchers or representatives from a variety of surveys.  If you are interested in writing a blog post or have a topic idea, email us at rdca@cdc.gov with the subject “Linking up with the NCHS RDC-Blog Idea”.  It is our aim to have a new blog each month.  So you never miss a post, subscribe to our blog by email (rdca@cdc.gov) or RSS feed. 

Please take the next few weeks to review our blog policy and privacy statements.  While we welcome your comments, we will not respond to every question or comment. We ask that you join the RDC Listserv (http://www.cdc.gov/rdc/LeftBrch/RDClistsv.htm), so we may build a research community that is able to assist us in answering questions or comments offline. 

Share this blog with anyone who has ever expressed interest in NCHS surveys or the RDC.