March 2026 | Margaret Koller, Rachel Hammond | New Jersey Uses Data to Improve Population Health
Data helps state agencies and policymakers make informed decisions about the policies and practices that protect the health and safety of their communities. In New Jersey, the Integrated Population Health Data Project (iPHD) aims to improve the overall well-being of residents and the efficiency of state government by securely linking administrative datasets to support research.
The New Jersey Department of Health contributed the initial funding and datasets to support the design and implementation of the iPHD. Now, the project is working to meet researchers’ needs by expanding its data to include other departments and agencies.
To learn more about this work, The Pew Charitable Trusts spoke to Margaret Koller, executive director at the Rutgers Center for State Health Policy, and Rachel Hammond, the chief ethics, data privacy, and research integrity officer for the New Jersey Department of Health. As part of their roles, Koller directs the implementation of the iPHD and Hammond chairs the iPHD’s governing board.