The healthcare body, which is part of the US Department of Health and Human Services, appointed six firms after evaluating applications for the past seven months.

Salter>Mitchell has been appointed on a one-year contract, which the firm said is “typically extended from year-to-year” and can be in place until 2017.

Robert Bailey, who heads up the firm’s research activities, said: “This builds on the research, social marketing and public relations work we’ve done for years with other federal agencies and in Florida with groups such as the Florida Healthy Kids Corporation and the Florida Department of Health.”