RTI International has won a nearly $60 million federal contract to assess just how effective certain Centers for Disease Control and Prevention public health programs really are.

Research Triangle Park, North Carolina-based RTI will evaluate the CDC’s Community Transformation Grant program, or CTG, which provides grants that implement policy or environmental changes targeting chronic diseases, secondary conditions such as diabetes and health disparities.

Debra Holden, senior director of RTI’s Community and Health Education Research Program, will lead RTI researchers in a seven-year project assessing the CTG program’s impacts. As part of the evaluation of the program, the CDC has also awarded RTI $4 million to study the long-term health and economic costs and benefits of particular policy or environmental interventions. The project will be led by RTI health economist Justin Trogdon.

The CDC is overseeing more than $100 million in community transformation grants. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in September announced the grants to states and communities to address “the health and well-being of our communities.” A total of 61 states, local governments and other bodies are receiving grant funding for programs that either improve health and wellness or focus on preventing chronic diseases.