A fellowship opportunity is available within the Influenza Division (ID) Epidemiology and Prevention Branch of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). ID provides the scientific and programmatic foundation and leadership for the diagnosis, prevention, and control of influenza domestically and internationally.

The selected participant will train under a designated mentor in the Influenza Prevention and Control Team (IPACT), which is responsible for studies describing influenza vaccine effectiveness and studies describing antiviral medication use and effectiveness. The participant will be trained in data management and analysis for several large projects within IPACT including a potential project to assess annual influenza vaccine effectiveness in preventing severe influenza disease. While being trained in this capacity, opportunities may include:

• Collaborating with IPACT epidemiologists in the development of analytic strategies for assessing the effectiveness of influenza vaccines and antiviral medications, including but not limited to
  • developing, testing, and managing data collection and specification requirements and data collection processes
  • reviewing and summarizing scientific and clinical literature related to analytic strategies or project implementation options
• Managing the tracking, receipt, validation, and merging of large datasets, including data from multiple sites and epidemiologic, laboratory, and electronic medical data. This includes monitoring data quality and completeness and providing feedback to project sites, designing and maintaining large databases to house data, creating and maintaining database documentation, and generating datasets for epidemiologic analysis
• Training by IPACT epidemiologists in the preparation of materials required for review of projects by CDC and other institutional review boards (IRBs) for protection of human research subjects
• Performing statistical analyses for vaccine and antiviral medication effectiveness estimates
• Summarizing research findings in written reports and presentations (at CDC and local and national conferences); performing primary or secondary technical review of documents; preparing sections of scientific manuscripts for internal and academic audiences; responding to inquiries from partner agencies
• Coordinating project-related communication with collaborating research institutions including meetings, workshops, and conference calls
• Problem-solving to optimize data collection (e.g., refining methods for collection of information on influenza vaccination status), data management, and data presentation
• Travel with a designated mentor to study sites as needed to support the opportunities above

This program, administered by ORAU through its contract with the U.S. Department of Energy to manage the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, was established through an interagency agreement between DOE and CDC. The initial appointment can be up to one year, but may be renewed upon recommendation of CDC contingent on the availability of funds. The participant will receive a monthly stipend commensurate with educational level and experience. Proof of health insurance is required for participation in this program. The appointment is full-time at CDC in the Atlanta, GA, area. Participants do not become employees of CDC, DOE or the program administrator, and there are no employment-related benefits.

Anticipated Appointment Start Date: April 2, 2019 

The qualified candidate should have received a master’s or doctoral degree in public health or a related scientific field, including substantial coursework or experience in epidemiology and/or biostatistics with experience in applying methods of linear and logistic regression, or be currently pursuing the degree with completion by July 23, 2019. Degree must have been received within five years of the appointment start date.

Preferred skills:

• Strong background in statistics and data analysis
• Experience with vaccines and infectious diseases
• Experience with SAS and/or R is strongly preferred
• Experience with Microsoft Access and PowerPoint is preferred

For more information and to apply, click HERE.