CDC Heat and Health Initiative Data Analytics Fellowship

Overview

*Applications will be reviewed on a rolling-basis.

CDC Office and Location: A research opportunity is available in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) located in Atlanta, Georgia.

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.

CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) plans, directs, and coordinates a program to protect the American people from environmental hazards. NCEH promotes a healthy environment and prevents premature death, avoidable illness and disability caused by non-infectious, non-occupational environmental and related factors. Read more about NCEH here: About National Center for Environmental Health | NCEH | CDC

NCEH launched a Heat and Health Initiative in April 2024 that enables proactive steps people can take to protect themselves from heat. Resources are available for use by health care professionals and by the public. NCEH will be conducting short, medium, and longer term evaluation of this initiative and its impact on health. The resources released as part of this initiative will be evaluated fall 2024. These evaluation activities are relevant to this ORISE opportunity. Read more about the Heat and health Initiative here: HeatRisk | Tracking | NCEH | CDC

Research Project: The participant will train with a multi-disciplinary team focused on reducing the impact of health harms from heat and will contribute to the team with data analytics related to and evaluation of the Heat and Health Initiative in the National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH).

The participant will focus on epidemiologic analysis and evaluation of efforts related to reducing the impact of health harms from heat to the public. Specifically, the fellow will gain experience in the evaluation of CDC’s Heat and Health Initiative; gain experience in efforts to address gaps in evidence on what is effective to protect the public from heat-related health harms and to strengthen heat surveillance systems; and gain experience in efforts related to payment and quality measurement related to heat and health prevention by providing epidemiologic and evaluation support related to sound, evidence-based interventions and heat and health initiative refinement. The participant will gain experience in data management and analysis, evaluation, climate and health knowledge, communication skills, and project management abilities for initiative goals.

As needs arise, the participant may also be a part of other related projects relevant to CDC’s Heat and Health Initiative. These may be related to partnerships, communications, policy, program implementation, and analytics.

More specifically, the participant may have the following opportunities:

Gain experience in short, medium, and long-term evaluation of CDC’s Heat and Health Initiative, with a focus on developing an analytic plan to measure long term health and cost outcomes achieved through heat and health prevention actions.
Gain experience in filling gaps in heat and health evidence and surveillance systems, heat-protective interventions, and translation of evidence into practice.
Gain experience in efforts to identify payment and quality measurement gaps associated with the delivery of care related to heat and health.
Gain experience in efforts to translate heat and health initiative resources into communication materials that can inform heat protective actions by health system and public health partners.
Gain experience in the application of evaluation science, behavioral science, social science, public policy, policy analysis, and interdisciplinary developmental practice to internal and external partners.
Gain experience in defining the best practices related to heat and health, as informed by evaluation evidence and translation science.
Gain experience in disseminating information for internal and external audiences.
Learning Objectives: The participant will increase their understanding of heat hazards and health, special topics related to heat equity, and current solution-based efforts to reduce health harms from heat. The participant will learn about CDC efforts to enable clinicians and health systems to take heat protective measures for the patients they serve; CDC’s approach to heat and health initiative evaluation; the state of science around heat and health including gaps in evidence; and current landscape of heat and health payment gaps and quality measurement by health systems. The participant will increase their knowledge and skills related to program evaluation, data analysis techniques, project management, facilitation and cross-sector partnerships. The participant will collaborate with cross-disciplinary teams to learn about project deliverables.

Mentor(s): The mentor for this opportunity is Laura Seeff (lvs3@cdc.gov). If you have questions about the nature of the research please contact the mentor(s).

Anticipated Appointment Start Date: August or early September 2024. 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: Stipend rates may vary based on numerous factors, including opportunity, location, education, and experience. If you are interviewed, you can inquire about the exact stipend rate at that time and if selected, your appointment offer will include the monthly stipend rate.

Citizenship Requirements: This opportunity is available to U.S. citizens, Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR), and foreign nationals. Non-U.S. citizen applicants should refer to the Guidelines for Non-U.S. Citizens Details page of the program website for information about the valid immigration statuses that are acceptable for program participation.

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.NCEH@orau.org and include the reference code for this opportunity.
Qualifications
The qualified candidate should be currently pursuing or have received a master’s or doctoral degree in the one of the relevant fields (any epidemiology or evaluation science with a focus on environmental health). Degree must have been received within the past five years, or anticipated to be received by 7/1/2025.

Preferred skills:

The ideal candidate also has experience working with large datasets, will be organized, able to collaborate, able to engage in several related projects, and have strong interpersonal communication and facilitation skills.