I am an epidemiologist at the National Center for Health Statistics of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). My research interests include the epidemiology of childhood asthma and racial and ethnic disparities in asthma outcomes. I first joined CDC as an Epidemic Intelligence Officer in 1998 after training in pediatrics at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, DC. I am a member of the Federal Liaison Group to the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program that works to reduce the burden of asthma. In working with this group, it became clear to me how important understanding issues in measuring asthma prevalence are to gauging progress in prevention and treatment.