Sahitya Reddy Helps Equip CDC with the Right Tech

When Sahitya Reddy first started working in public health information technology (IT) more than 15 years ago, all she was really looking for was tech experience in a new domain. But, she soon realized that her new role managing disease surveillance systems for the Alabama Department of Health was more than just a job—she was doing work that made a real difference.

“My work with state and local jurisdictions opened me up to this whole new world of challenges and opportunities to be able to improve population health by integrating systems, adopting newer technologies and data standards, and accelerating data into action,” Sahitya says. “I could see that my work made a direct impact on improving public health.”

Today, at Booz Allen, Sahitya is making that impact on a federal level with her work supporting the technology needs of clients at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

We recently had a chance to interview Sahitya via email. Read on for excerpts from that exchange.

Your work is highly technical. What’s the simplest way of explaining what you do?

My job is to make it so IT solutions can talk to each other by making them speak the same language or by building a translator, so data can be shared across the health community to improve people’s health and address health threats.  

Your current work supports clients at the CDC. What are you focused on there?

I’m currently focused on data modernization at the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases at CDC. I serve on the project as an architect and subject matter expert in Health Level 7, which is a set of agreed-upon standards for transferring electronic medical records and other digital information between health systems. I am also the technical lead on a team helping state health departments accelerate and automate their electronic laboratory reporting.

What do you like most about your job?

The best parts of my job are the opportunities presented to me every day to solve critical public health problems and getting to see our work have a positive impact on the nation’s public health system.

What do you enjoy most about working for Booz Allen?

The collaborative nature of the firm gives me and my team the opportunity to network and learn from other project teams, and to leverage some of their great work for our projects. Also, the constant training opportunities are helpful for upskilling and getting to do new types of work.