CDC Surveillance Epidemiology Fellowship with the NORS Team
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- An application
- A current resume/CV, including academic history, employment history, relevant experiences, and publication list
- One educational or professional recommendation. Your application will be considered incomplete, and will not be reviewed until one recommendation is submitted.
All documents must be in English or include an official English translation.
*Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.
CDC Office and Location: A research opportunity is currently available with the Enteric Diseases Epidemiology Branch (EDEB) within the Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases (DFWED) at the National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) located in Atlanta, Georgia.
The 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.
EDEB works with state and local health departments and other federal agencies to conduct surveillance for bacterial enteric (intestinal) pathogens in the United States. The branch leads CDC’s epidemiology work in preventing illness caused by these pathogens, by monitoring trends in illness and antimicrobial resistance, tracking and responding to outbreaks, and identifying risk factors for these infections. EDEB staff members track illnesses caused by Clostridium botulinum, Campylobacter, Shiga toxin-producing Escherichia coli, Listeria, Salmonella, Shigella, Vibrio, and Yersinia.
Research Project: The selected participant will train within EDEB’s National Outbreak Reporting System (NORS) Team and participate in the acquisition and analysis of outbreak surveillance data from state health partners. The NORS team collects reports of approximately 900 outbreaks transmitted by food and animal contact each year and analyzes them to monitor disease trends and to better understand the sources of enteric disease infections. Outbreak surveillance reports inform investigations of new outbreaks and the creation of prevention measures and policies by providing insight into the pathogens, vehicles, populations, and circumstances that have been associated with foodborne disease or animal contact outbreaks.
Learning Objectives: Under the guidance of a mentor, the participant will gain knowledge and experience in the following activities:
- Collaborate with partners at state health departments by serving as a point of contact to support reporting foodborne and animal contact outbreaks through NORS, and resolving data quality issues during the annual data cleaning process
- Acquire skills in conducting research with large datasets by cleaning and analyzing outbreak surveillance data, and by monitoring and fulfilling data requests from researchers
- Gain experience in public health communications by contributing to scientific reports and presentations and by developing and improving materials for public-facing websites
- Participate in meetings and activities to improve outbreak reporting, data quality, and the NORS online interface (e.g., update data dictionaries, data collection forms, guidance documents, and training documents as needed; gain knowledge of information technology development through activities such as user acceptance testing [UAT])
- Collaborate with federal regulatory partners and other groups across CDC for data linking to other reporting systems, data reconciliation, and other projects
- Support additional activities as needed, as suggested by team or branch leadership
Mentor(s): The mentor(s) for this opportunity is Christina Camejo (VVV9@cdc.gov). If you have questions about the nature of the research please contact the mentor(s).
Anticipated Appointment Start Date: 2022. 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 and Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR).
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.NCEZID@orau.org and include the reference code for this opportunity.
The qualified candidate should have received a master's degree in one of the relevant fields (e.g. Epidemiology). Degree must have been received within five years of the appointment start date.
Preferred Skills:
- Excellent communication skills and a team player
- Familiarity and experience with using SAS (or another statistical computing software), Access, and Excel
- Experience working with state systems and personnel
- Candidates must have at least 50% of classes in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM)
- Citizenship: LPR or U.S. Citizen
- Degree: Master's Degree received within the last 60 month(s).
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Discipline(s):
- Chemistry and Materials Sciences (12 )
- Communications and Graphics Design (2 )
- Computer, Information, and Data Sciences (17 )
- Earth and Geosciences (21 )
- Engineering (27 )
- Environmental and Marine Sciences (14 )
- Life Health and Medical Sciences (48 )
- Mathematics and Statistics (11 )
- Physics (16 )
- Science & Engineering-related (2 )
- Social and Behavioral Sciences (28 )
I certify that I have not previously been employed by CDC or by a contractor working directly for CDC. I understand that CDC does not permit individuals with a prior employment relationship with CDC or its contractors to participate as trainees in the ORISE program. (Exceptions may be granted for individuals who, since the previous CDC employment, have obtained a new STEM degree which necessitates training in a new field.)
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