CDC Public Health Surveillance Survey Fellowship

*Applications will be reviewed on a rolling-basis.

CDC Office and Location: A fellowship opportunity is available with the Behavioral and Clinical Surveillance Branch (BCSB) of the Division of HIV Prevention (DHP) within the National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention (NCHHSTP) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) located in Atlanta, Georgia. Successful candidates will be required to re-locate to Atlanta, GA for the fellowship.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (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.

Research Project: This fellowship offers the opportunity to train and gain experience in public health surveillance and its related data system. State and local health departments are funded to collect data for the National HIV Behavioral Surveillance (NHBS) system in 22 metropolitan project areas throughout the United States. NHBS collects and reports data on populations at increased risk for HIV infection including men who have sex with men, persons who inject drugs, heterosexually active persons at increased risk for HIV, and transgender persons in the United States. NHBS data are used to monitor issues affecting these populations, which include describing racial disparities, reporting HIV prevalence and awareness, exploring the prevalence of HIV-related risk behaviors, such as drug use and sex, and examining access to HIV testing, care and prevention. NHBS collects data through personal interviews and HIV testing and is the only national source of data on HIV-negative members of populations overburdened by HIV. Experience through this fellowship will focus on the design and evaluation of questionnaires for behavioral interviews. 

Learning Objectives: Specific opportunities during the fellowship may include: 

• Learning about respondent driven sampling (RDS), venue-based sampling (VBS), and other methods used to recruit hard-to-reach populations into a large, multi-site public health surveillance system.
• Contribute to design and evaluation of the NHBS questionnaire.
• Assist with statistical analyses and other activities to evaluate validity and reliability of survey data.
• Contribute to reports describing survey design, measurement, and evaluation results.
• Contribute to other manuscripts, reports, or presentations of NHBS data.
• Assist with development of materials and activities for interviewer training and evaluation.
• Assist with conducting end-user testing on Computer-Assisted Personal Interview (CAPI) questionnaire.
• Contribute to design and implementation of relational databases for survey design, evaluation, and management.  
• Assist with coordination of NHBS questionnaire and interview activities.
• Assist with coordination, information management, and preparation of priority publications. 
• Assist with statistical analyses of NHBS data.
• Collaborate with external and internal stakeholders.

Mentor(s): The mentor for this opportunity is Catlainn Sionean (ziq9@cdc.gov). If you have questions about the nature of the research please contact the mentor(s).

Anticipated Appointment Start Date: November 1, 2023.  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.NCHHSTP@orau.org and include the reference code for this opportunity.

Qualifications

The qualified candidate should have received a master's or doctoral degree in one of the relevant fields (e.g. Public Health, Epidemiology, Psychology, Sociology), or be currently pursuing one of the degrees with completion before October 30, 2023. Degree must have been received within the past five years.

Preferred skills include:

• Strong writing and communication skills. 
• Experience with questionnaire design or survey research.
• Knowledge of behavioral and/or demographic surveys.
• Experience with SAS.
• General knowledge of HIV prevention and infectious diseases.