CDC Occupational Safety and Health Research Fellow

* Applications will be reviewed on a rolling-basis.

CDC Office and Location: An opportunity is currently available with the Center for Workers’ Compensation Studies (CWCS), Field Research Branch (FRB), in the Division of Field Studies and Engineering (DFSE), within the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Cincinnati, Ohio.

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.

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is a multidisciplinary research institute of the federal government that was established in 1970 to conduct research and make recommendations for the prevention of work-related illnesses and injuries. NIOSH is one of the centers of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The mission of the Center for Workers' Compensation Studies (CWCS) within NIOSH is to maximize the use of workers’ compensation (WC) data and systems to improve workplace safety and health. WC claims may be filed after a worker is injured or becomes ill due to their job. Claims include the nature of injury/illness, how the injury/illness occurred, the type and cost of medical care received, cost of partial wage replacement, the number of days off work, disability type, and injured worker characteristics (occupation, age, sex, job tenure, etc.).  Insurers also collect employer data on workplace safety, ergonomic, and industrial hygiene exposures and controls. See the CWCS Website for more information about the center: Center for Workers’ Compensation Studies | NIOSH | CDC

Research Project: The participant will be asked to contribute to a research project to analyze workers’ compensation claims to understand trends by industry, occupation, employer size, geographical area, injury/illness cause, part of body, diagnoses, treatment and worker characteristics.

Learning Objectives: Under the guidance of mentors, you will be involved with and learn how to:

• Conduct surveillance analyses to understand trends by industry, occupation, employer size, geographical area, injury/illness cause, part of body, diagnoses, treatment and worker characteristics
• Conduct exposure assessment studies using industrial hygiene, safety, and ergonomic data
• Conduct and safety/health intervention and health services effectiveness studies
• Develop data visualization dashboards for occupational safety and health data
• Develop databases of safety, ergonomic, industrial hygiene, and return-to-work interventions across industries by reviewing peer reviewed literature and other data sources
• Assist in implementing current IT architecture and maintaining CWCS databases, data warehouse, other business intelligence tools, and future databases
• Collect new study data (surveys, industrial hygiene, safety, and ergonomic sampling data)
• Develop research protocols
• Author and co-author publications for scientific peer-reviewed journals
• Present studies at conference and webinars
• Interact directly with insurers, bureaus, public health communities and other organizations to develop partnerships and conduct studies

Mentor(s): The mentor for this opportunity is Steve Wurzelbacher (srw3@cdc.gov). If you have questions about the nature of the research please contact the mentor(s).

Anticipated Appointment Start Date: July 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.NIOSH@orau.org and include the reference code for this opportunity.

Qualifications

The qualified candidate should have received a bachelor’s, master's, or doctoral degree in one of the relevant fields within five years of the appointment start date or be currently pursuing the degree.

Preferred skills:

• Experience in epidemiological methods and statistics
• Knowledge of SAS (or R) statistical software desirable
• SQL database experience
• Data visualization
• Data science
• Workers’ compensation
• Experience with Microsoft Office tools (Word, Power Point, Excel)
• Strong research and communication skills

Eligibility Requirements

• Degree: Bachelor's Degree, Master's Degree, or Doctoral Degree received within the last 60 month(s).
• Overall GPA: 3.00
• Academic Level(s): Graduate Students, Post-Bachelor's, Postdoctoral, or Post-Master's.