FDA Health Communications Fellowship

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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
• 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.OC.other@orau.org. Please include the reference code for this opportunity in your email.

*Applications will be reviewed on a rolling-basis.

Two fellowship opportunities are currently available within the Office of Health Communication and Education (OHCE) in the Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) located in Silver Spring, Maryland.

CTP aims to protect Americans from tobacco-related death and disease by regulating the manufacture, distribution, and marketing of tobacco products and by educating the public, especially young people, about tobacco products and the dangers their use poses to themselves and others. CTP oversees the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. The selected participant will have the opportunity to learn about the Tobacco Control Act and the development and marketing of public health education campaigns to advance the center's communications efforts.

The selected fellow will have the opportunity to learn about planning, implementation, and evaluation of tobacco education campaigns and programs and activities designed to achieve behavior change and other positive health outcomes. Specifically, the selected fellow would have the opportunity to learn about:

• Applying communication theories, tobacco science, and promising best practices to develop public education materials for various audiences, particularly at-risk youth.
• Development, testing, and timely dissemination of science- and audience-based tobacco control messages and other public health products, tools, and materials to a wide variety of target audience populations in various formats and channels.
• Collecting information from consumers on social media, digital platforms, and through research to identify gaps in knowledge about diverse target audiences to inform the development of tobacco public education strategies and messages.
• Collecting and analyzing data (e.g., literature reviews, surveillance data, health statistics) to develop tobacco education strategies and messages.
• Exploring new methods to analyze and evaluate digital campaign impact.
• Developing and maintaining ongoing tactical communication campaigns, digital content, messaging, and partnership activities.
• Writing and reviewing digital content for various audiences and platforms that follows health communications best practices and adheres to scientific requirements.  
• Developing communications materials, such as communication plans, talking points, FAQ documents and feature stories for the web around regulatory actions, including rulemaking and enforcement activities, as well as scientific research efforts.

Anticipated Appointment Start Date: February 2022 (start date is flexible)

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 initial appointment is for one year, but may be renewed upon recommendation of FDA contingent on the availability of funds. The participant will receive a monthly stipend commensurate with educational level and experience. Travel stipend for relevant conferences will be provided. Proof of health insurance is required for participation in this program. The appointment is full-time at FDA in the Silver Spring, Maryland, area. 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 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.

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

Preferred skills:

• Previous coursework and/or work experience in tobacco or other public health communications
• Strong written and verbal communications skills
• Knowledge of digital communication tactics and techniques
• Knowledge of methods used to analyze digital and social media messaging to assess performance and impact 
• Knowledge of social marketing, health communications, or health behavior
• Knowledge of tobacco control
• Knowledge of youth marketing tactics, especially gaming
• Outstanding organizational and interpersonal skills
• Intermediate to advanced experience with Microsoft Office Suite

• Citizenship: U.S. Citizen Only
• Degree: Bachelor's Degree or Master's Degree received within the last 60 months or currently pursuing.
• Discipline(s):
  • Communications and Graphics Design (1 )
  • Computer, Information, and Data Sciences (1 )
  • Life Health and Medical Sciences (1 )
  • Other Non-Science & Engineering (2 )
  • Social and Behavioral Sciences (29 )

Have you lived in the United States for at least 36 out of the past 60 months? (36 months do not have to be consecutive.)