Overview
About this Role
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) is dedicated to advancing the health and well‑being of California’s diverse communities. Every CDPH team member plays a vital role in promoting equity, diversity, inclusion, and innovative public health services statewide.
This position supports CDPH’s mission by providing scientific leadership within the Immunization Branch, focusing on advanced epidemiologic and biostatistical analysis of immunization data. The Research Scientist Staff (RSS) independently develops, designs, and implements methodologies to analyze and interpret data from the California Immunization Registry (CAIR) and other data sources to identify coverage gaps, evaluate vaccination progress, and reduce inequities in vaccine‑preventable diseases.
The selected candidate serves as a lead to lower‑level scientists and works under the general direction of the Research Scientist Supervisor I (RSS I) of the Immunization Registry and Preparedness Unit.
Key Responsibilities
• Lead and collaborate on projects evaluating immunization coverage, equity, and vaccine‑preventable disease trends.
• Develop and implement epidemiologic and statistical methods to assess vaccination coverage, gaps, and disparities.
• Estimate vaccine effectiveness and the impact of vaccine allocation or policy strategies.
• Conduct advanced statistical analysis of CAIR and related datasets to evaluate vaccination patterns and trends.
• Perform data extraction, cleaning, linkage, and integration with supplemental datasets such as disease surveillance, school immunization records, and birth certificate data.
• Identify opportunities to improve CAIR data quality, completeness, and utility.
• Disseminate findings through reports, presentations, peer‑reviewed publications, and professional conferences.
• Lead the development of datasets, dashboards, and analytical tools characterizing vaccination progress and disparities.
• Create user‑friendly data visualizations to support CAIR data submitters, providers, outreach teams, and local health departments.
• Provide scientific input toward the enhancement of CAIR and related immunization information systems.
• Offer epidemiologic and biostatistical consultation to CAIR users, including health departments, health plans, and CDPH programs such as Vaccines for Children, Vital Records, WIC, Medi‑Cal, and emergency preparedness programs.
• Assess and respond to data needs across Immunization Branch sections and external partners.
• Maintain expertise in epidemiology, biostatistics, immunization science, public health informatics, GIS, and clinical decision support.
• Stay current on Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) recommendations and AIRA immunization registry standards.
Qualifications
• Expertise in epidemiologic methods, biostatistical modeling, public health informatics, and vaccine‑preventable diseases.
• Experience working with large, complex public health datasets, including immunization registries.
• Proficiency in statistical software (e.g., SAS, R, Python), GIS tools, and dashboarding platforms (e.g., Tableau, Power BI).
• Strong analytical and problem‑solving skills with the ability to interpret complex health data.
• Ability to communicate scientific information clearly to technical and non‑technical audiences.
• Experience leading scientific projects and mentoring junior staff.
• Knowledge of CAIR, immunization data standards, ACIP guidelines, and AIRA best practices.
• Experience conducting data linkages and integrating multiple data systems.
The selected candidate serves as a lead to lower‑level scientists and works under the general direction of the Research Scientist Supervisor I (RSS I) of the Immunization Registry and Preparedness Unit.
About California Department of Public Health (CDPH)
CDPH works to protect the public's health in the Golden State and helps shape positive health outcomes for individuals, families and communities. The Department's programs and services, implemented in collaboration with local health departments and state, federal and private partners, touch the lives of every Californian and visitor to the state 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Our Shared Vision
CDPH public health professionals, researchers, scientists, doctors, nurses, and other staff members have a shared vision to protect and improve the health of all Californians. We are dedicated to public service and passionate about our work and the people and communities we serve and protect.
Diversity Statement
At CDPH, equity, diversity, and inclusion are at the core of our mission to advance the health and well-being of California’s diverse people and communities. We are genuinely and strongly committed to cultivating and preserving a culture of inclusion and connectedness where we can grow and learn together with a diverse team of employees. In recruiting for team members, we welcome the unique contributions that you can bring to us and the work we do.
