CDC Population Health and Healthcare Informatics & Obesity Fellowship

Organization
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Reference Code
CDC-NCCDPHP-2021-0036
How to Apply

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A complete application consists of:

  • An application
  • Transcripts – Click here for detailed information about acceptable transcripts
  • A current resume/CV, including academic history, employment history, relevant experiences, and publication list
  • A writing sample (preferably a peer-reviewed publication)
  • 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.

If you have questions, send an email to ORISE.CDC.NCCDPHP@orau.org. Please include the reference code for this opportunity in your email.

Application Deadline
1/18/2021 3:00:00 PM Eastern Time Zone
Description

*Applications will be reviewed on a rolling-basis.

A fellowship opportunity is currently available with the Obesity Prevention and Control Branch in the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity (DNPAO) within the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) located in Atlanta, Georgia.

DNPAO’s Obesity Prevention and Control Branch supports both population-based approaches for healthy eating and active living and targeted equity strategies to support health and well-being. To meet this goal, the Branch conducts surveillance on obesity and key behaviors and systems supports, applied research and evaluation, translation and guideline development, and technical assistance for several settings including early care and education (ECE), food service operations, and healthcare. OPCB’s Population Health and Healthcare Unit aims to improve pediatric obesity  clinical care quality, and access to evidence-based lifestyle interventions for child obesity in clinical and community settings through 5 key strategies: 1) advance evidence-based interventions for spread and scale, 2) enhance data capacity and novel technology, 3) advance the evidence base 4) support improvements in clinical care quality and clinical-community linkages, and 5) foster strategic partnerships.

The selected participant will receive training and gain experience in OPCB’s population health, data science, & informatics approaches to enhance data capacity and quality for surveillance, applied research, evaluation, quality improvement, and health metrics. The participant will receive training from a diverse group of public health professionals, including epidemiologists, informaticists, clinicians, health economists, and health services researchers. DNPAO has a long history of engagement with state and local health departments, national associations, professional organizations, industry stakeholders, community-based organizations, federal partners and health information technology specialists.

As part of the fellowship, the participant will receive training and engage in data modernization and capacity building projects, including the Clinical and Community Data Initiative (CODI) that aim to longitudinally link individual-level data across healthcare and community settings and systems. The initiative includes efforts to translate evidence-based clinical decision support tools to open-source interoperable technologies for spread and scale; exploring the use of novel technologies to clean and analyze weight-related electronic healthcare data; capitalizing on big data opportunities to address strategic research gaps.

Under the guidance of a mentor, the participant will receive training related to the following activities:

  • Contributing to the CODI collaborative of scientists from CDC, partners & stakeholders that aim to identify key research questions, map to data elements, augment a common data model, enhance existing technologies & establish data sharing use agreements in NC
  • Programmatic & technical environmental scans to identify potential data partners, understand data partners’ workflows, needs & requirements, technical needs to fulfill those requirements, & novel data cleaning methods and analytics
  • Reviews of literature, inventories of health IT & other resources, training needs and metrics related to obesity, chronic disease, social determinants of health, healthcare clinical quality, public health implementation & evaluation efforts
  • Engagement strategies with internal & external stakeholders, including CDC & HHS subject matter experts on health IT efforts related to obesity & chronic disease clinical care, surveillance & research
  • Presenting findings & sharing resources with a variety of audiences, through written and oral communications

General activities of the fellowship may include:

  • Collaborating with internal staff and partners to inventory resources, training needs, and metrics related to food banks, food pantries, and other charitable food settings to determine gaps and timely needs.
  • Collaborating to develop an approach to support community stakeholders in local food system action planning and prioritization related to addressing food insecurity. 
  • Participating in community-based participatory approaches to ensure aspects of client choice models for food pantries, culturally appropriate food procurement, and tailored messages can support those at highest risk of nutrition insecurity.
  • Participating with workgroups and teams to determine and develop criteria to categorize promising and emerging practices and advising DNPAO recipients and partners;
  • Presenting findings to a range of audiences. Participating as a member of various Division workgroups to support the development of a range of translation- and evaluation-related projects.

Anticipated Appointment Start Date: January 15, 2021

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, Georgia, area. Participants do not become employees of CDC, DOE or the program administrator, and there are no employment-related benefits.

Qualifications

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

Preferred skills:

  • Experience with healthcare data
  • Experience with team-based problem-solving
  • Experience with written and oral communications
  • Familiarity with population health principles, chronic disease prevention, and/or social determinants of health
Eligibility Requirements
  • Degree: Master's Degree or Doctoral Degree received within the last 60 months or currently pursuing.
  • Discipline(s):
    • Computer, Information, and Data Sciences (6 )
    • Engineering (1 )
    • Life Health and Medical Sciences (5 )
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