CDC Epidemiology Fellowship for the Surveillance and Analytics Team/Surveillance and Prevention Branch

*Applications will be reviewed on a rolling-basis.

CDC Office and Location: A fellowship opportunity is available with the Surveillance and Prevention Branch (SPB) of the Coronavirus and Other Respiratory Viruses Division (CORVD) within the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD), at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is one of the major operation components of the Department of Health and Human Services. CDC works to protect America from health, safety, and security threats, both foreign and in the U.S. Whether diseases start at home or abroad, are chronic or acute, curable or preventable, human error or deliberate attack, CDC fights disease and supports communities and citizens to do the same.

Research Project: A fellowship is available with the Surveillance and Analytics Team in collaboration with other teams in the Surveillance and Prevention Branch (SPB) of the Coronavirus and Other Respiratory Viruses Division (CORVD) within NCIRD. The candidate will participate in the advancement of national surveillance for COVID-19, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), and other human respiratory viruses, including surveillance systems development, operations, analytics, reporting, and publication. Cross-cutting collaborations with enhanced surveillance and vaccine effectiveness platforms as well as vaccine policy activities are also possible. The candidate will collaborate with a growing team of virologists, bioinformaticians, and informaticians. 

Learning Objectives: Some of the learning activities for the fellowship are as follows:

1. Learn how to manage, report, visualize, and interpret public health surveillance data, which will culminate in integrated systems that inform public health interventions for prevention of COVID-19, RSV, influenza, and other respiratory viruses
2. Participate in designing and refining epidemiologic protocols, including reviews of scientific literature, standardized operating procedures, management of informatics pipelines, descriptive analyses of surveillance data, and communicating and reporting trends
3. Review and update externally facing webpages and dashboards for quality improvement, clear communication, and optimal user experience, including addition of epidemiologic input on relevant public health information to identify and address knowledge gaps
4. Participate actively in operational and strategic meetings with teammates and leadership to learn how programmatic decision making occurs
5. Receive training on how to manage and integrate systems data and pipelines necessary for national surveillance operations
6. Attend scientific seminars, agency trainings, and partner meetings for continuing education on respiratory virus epidemiology, vaccine effectiveness and policy, and development of data science and other professional skillsets
7. Help senior scientists prepare and deliver written and oral reports to a variety of individuals and groups in both informal and formal settings
8. Assist in preparation of results for publication in a variety of journals

Mentor(s): The mentor for this opportunity is Nia Mims (ngm7@cdc.gov). If you have questions about the nature of the research, please contact the mentor(s).

Anticipated Appointment Start Date: October 9, 2023.  Start date is flexible and will depend on a variety of factors.

Appointment Length: The appointment will initially be for one year, but may be renewed upon recommendation of CDC and is contingent on the availability of funds.

Level of Participation: The appointment is full-time.

Participant Stipend: The participant will receive a monthly stipend commensurate with educational level and experience. 

Citizenship Requirements: This opportunity is available to U.S. citizens, Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR), and foreign nationals. Non-U.S. citizen applicants should refer to the Guidelines for Non-U.S. Citizens Details page of the program website for information about the valid immigration statuses that are acceptable for program participation.

ORISE Information: This program, administered by ORAU through its contract with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to manage the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORISE), was established through an interagency agreement between DOE and CDC. Participants do not become employees of CDC, DOE or the program administrator, and there are no employment-related benefits. Proof of health insurance is required for participation in this program. Health insurance can be obtained through ORISE.

The successful applicant(s) will be required to comply with Environmental, Safety and Health (ES&H) requirements of the hosting facility, including but not limited to, COVID-19 requirements (e.g. facial covering, physical distancing, testing, vaccination).

Questions: Please visit our Program Website. After reading, if you have additional questions about the application process please email ORISE.CDC.NCIRD@orau.org and include the reference code for this opportunity.

Qualifications

The qualified candidate should have received a master's degree in one of the relevant fields, or be currently pursuing the degree with completion before the appointment start date. Degree must have been received within the past five years.

Preferred skills:

• Strong background in data science, statistical programming (e.g., R, SAS), infectious disease epidemiology, and surveillance system operations