CDC Postdoctoral Fellowship in Micronutrient Malnutrition

Overview

*Applications will be reviewed on a rolling-basis.

CDC Office and Location: A fellowship opportunity is currently available with the Obesity Prevention and Control Branch in the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity and Obesity (DNPAO) within the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion (NCCDPHP) at 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.

DNPAO’s Obesity Prevention and Control Branch supports both population-based approaches for healthy eating and active living and health equity strategies to ensure everyone has a fair chance of improving diet quality to reduce the burden of chronic disease and support healthy child development. The Branch conducts surveillance, applied research and evaluation, translation and guideline development, and technical assistance on topics such as implementing nutrition standards, creating healthy food environments and food access opportunities in key settings such as hospitals, park and recreation centers, public institutions, and food banks and pantries.

Research Project: Micronutrients are vitamins and minerals that are vital to human development and disease prevention. At least half of children worldwide ages 6 months to 5 years suffer from micronutrient deficiency. The consequences can be devastating, including birth defects, blindness, anemia, diarrhea, infections, cognitive impairments and death. CDC’s IMMPaCt Program works with global partners to eliminate vitamin and mineral deficiencies (micronutrient malnutrition) among vulnerable populations. The IMMPaCt Program focuses on reducing deficiencies in iron, vitamin A, iodine, folate, vitamin B12 and zinc by helping countries plan and develop nutrition assessments, surveys, surveillance systems, and micronutrient interventions. Specifically, the program helps governments, food industries, and civic organizations implement, monitor, and evaluate micronutrient interventions such as mass food fortification, home fortifica tion and vitamin and mineral supplementation.

Learning Objectives: The ORISE participant will be trained in the collection, review, and/or analysis of epidemiologic and programmatic data, under the guidance of a mentor in CDC’s International Micronutrient Malnutrition Prevention and Control (IMMPaCt) program. The participant will be trained in research and surveillance methods, and nutritional biomarkers related to vitamin and mineral deficiencies. The participant will be trained on analysis of epidemiological and programmatic data collection related to lifecourse nutrition, children and adolescent nutrition, maternal nutrition, and health interventions, including iron and micronutrient supplementation to reduce anemia and other deficiencies as well as projects related to infant young child nutrition. Training will include studies and surveillance conducted in the United States and in global settings. Training will involve literature searches, analyses of data using statistical software, preparation of scientific articles for publication, and presentation of epidemiologic studies or surveillance activities. Dissemination of the findings from these studies will be encouraged, which may mean presenting work at scientific meetings and/or publishing articles in peer-reviewed journals.

Mentor(s): The mentor for this opportunity is Oppong Yaw Addo (lyu6@cdc.gov). If you have questions about the nature of the research please contact the mentor(s).

Anticipated Appointment Start Date: November 4, 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.NCCDPHP@orau.org and include the reference code for this opportunity.
Qualifications
The qualified candidate should have received a doctoral degree in one of the relevant fields (Nutrition, Health Sciences, Epidemiology or Public Health, Biostatistics, Global health, Medical anthropology, Demography). Degree must have been received within the past five years.

Preferred skills:

Familiarity in nutrition, epidemiology, global health, maternal child health and/or adolescent health, demography
Experience with nutrition programs or related intervention programs in domestic and international settings
Experience with research synthesis and/or program monitoring and evaluation
Knowledge of analytical techniques, data analysis skills for both quantitative and qualitative data
Experience with analytic software, such as SAS or STATA or R
Experience with qualitative analysis software, such as MAXQDA, NVivo,ATLAS.ti
Strong scientific writing skills and communication skills