FDA Research Fellowship - Automated Identification of Adverse Events from Drug Labeling
To submit your application, scroll to the bottom of this opportunity and click APPLY.
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
- One educational or professional recommendation
All documents must be in English or include an official English translation.
If you have questions, send an email to ORISE.FDA.CDER@orau.org. Please include the reference code for this opportunity in your email.
*Applications will be reviewed on a rolling-basis.
FDA Office and Location: A research opportunity is available immediately with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER), located in Little Rock, Arkansas.
The Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) performs an essential public health task by making sure that safe and effective drugs are available to improve the health of people in the United States. As part of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), CDER regulates over-the-counter and prescription drugs, including biological therapeutics and generic drugs. These efforts cover more than just medicines.
Research Project: This research project aims to develop methods for efficiently recognizing Adverse Events (AEs) in drug labeling by leveraging advanced AI technologies and MedDRA terminologies. It will integrate RxBERT with MedDRA to enhance AE extraction accuracy. RxBERT has been developed as a domain-specific language model and fine-tuned for AE recognition in labeling. This project will also explore large language models (LLMs) such as locally hosted Llama and FDA’s GenAI tool, Elsa, for zero-shot and few-shot learning to extract AEs and evaluate the performance of various approaches.
You will be physically stationed and trained at FDA’s National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR) located in Jefferson, AR.
Learning Objectives: Under the guidance of a mentor, you will receive training and gain skills in the following:
- Develop an understanding of pharmacovigilance workflows;
- AI based algorithm and method development for adverse event recognition in labeling documents;
- Web-based tool development for the support of dataset collection;
- Performance evaluation and validation for the developed AI method.
Mentor: The mentors for this opportunity are Dr. Leihong Wu (Leihong.wu@fda.hhs.gov) and Joshua Xu (Joshua.xu@fda.hhs.gov). If you have questions about the nature of the research, please contact the mentors.
Anticipated Appointment Start Date: 2026. 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 FDA 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. citizen and Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR) only.
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 FDA. The participant will receive a monthly stipend commensurate with educational level and experience. Proof of health insurance is required for participation in this program. Participants do not become employees of FDA, DOE or the program administrator, and there are no employment-related benefits.
Completion of a successful background investigation by the Office of Personnel Management is required for an applicant to be on-boarded at FDA. OPM can complete a background investigation only for individuals, including non-US Citizens, who have resided in the US for a total of three of the past five years.
FDA Ethics Requirements
If an ORISE Fellow, to include their spouse and minor children, reports what is identified as a Significantly Regulated Organization (SRO) or prohibited investment fund financial interest in any amount, or a relationship with an SRO, except for spousal employment with an SRO, and the individual will not voluntarily divest the financial interest or terminate the relationship, then the individual is not placed at FDA. For additional requirements, see FDA Ethics for Nonemployee Scientists.
FDA requires ORISE participants to read and sign their FDA Education and Training Agreement within 30 days of his/her start date, setting forth the conditions and expectations for his/her educational appointment at the agency. This agreement covers such topics as the following:
- Non-employee nature of the ORISE appointment;
- Prohibition on ORISE Fellows performing inherently governmental functions;
- Obligation of ORISE Fellows to convey all necessary rights to the FDA regarding intellectual property conceived or first reduced to practice during their fellowship;
- The fact that research materials and laboratory notebooks are the property of the FDA;
- ORISE fellow’s obligation to protect and not to further disclose or use non-public information.
Applicants should be currently pursuing or have received a master's or doctoral degree in the one of the relevant fields.
I am a U.S. citizen, or I have lived in the United States for at least 36 out of the past 60 months. (36 months do not have to be consecutive.)
and
I have read the FDA Ethics Requirements.
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