CDC Electronic Case Reporting Fellowship

*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. Candidate should reside within 50 miles of the official duty location (Atlanta, Georgia). Remote participation is available from within 50 miles of the official duty location.

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 is available within the CDC's Office of Public Health Data, Surveillance, and Technology. The main focus of this project is to support the advancement of CDC's case surveillance efforts, with a particular emphasis on outbreak readiness and health equity. Health equity efforts will be directed towards under-served populations, including rural and tribal communities.

The fellow will train to increase their understanding of electronic case reporting in healthcare facilities and public health agencies across the country. This will involve activities such as training in tracking and measuring performance, data visualization, and reporting. To aid in these activities, the fellow will receive training on data visualization tools like Microsoft (MS) Dynamics and Power BI.

Overall, this fellowship provides an opportunity to train in CDC's efforts in improving case surveillance and promoting health equity among diverse populations.

Learning Objectives: These learning activities aim to enhance the participant's knowledge of CDC's case surveillance efforts through efficient data management practices.

• Receive training on how to conduct literature searches and learn to use tools or software to update metrics and respond to data inquiries, such as MS Teams and PowerBI.
• Collaborate to design, develop, and/or support existing tools used for data collection, entry, cleaning, and extraction, as well as visualization, tracking, reporting, for example MS Dynamics and Power BI.
• Collaborate on the collection, entry, and organization of data using the most effective methods into the designated data collection system.
• Collaborate to analyze, interpret, extract, and evaluate data collected by designing and implementing data visualization tools to automatically display the data and pull reports.
• Participate and train in the processing and analysis of facility lists received from healthcare organizations by performing tasks such as data cleaning, validation, and data entry.
• Collaborate to create communications for review to internal and external partners.
• Learn to conduct peer review processes with other fellows, interns, contractors, and federal employees to maintain and improve the quality standards of the research being conducted within the fellowship program.
• Collaborate to conduct quality control procedures and update existing or learn how to create new standard operating procedures to safeguard against potential data losses.
• Collaboratively draft at least one abstract for presentation at the annual CDC ORISE Fellows Collective Conference and if accepted, presenting at the conference. It is important to note that all products, including abstracts, will undergo an internal and official CDC clearance process to ensure compliance with policies and standards. This conference provides a valuable platform for sharing research findings and contributing to the collective knowledge and advancements in public health.

Mentor(s): The mentor for this opportunity is Sarah Sobonya (qkh4@cdc.gov). If you have questions about the nature of the research please contact the mentor(s).

Anticipated Appointment Start Date: September 30, 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 and Lawful Permanent Residents (LPR) only.

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.IOD@orau.org and include the reference code for this opportunity.

Qualifications

The qualified candidate should be currently pursuing or have received a master's degree in the one of the relevant fields. Degree must have been received within the past five years, or anticipated to be received by 5/30/2026.

Preferred skills:

• Experience in a collaborative team environment.
• Experience developing written and oral communication products (reports, abstracts, presentations).
• Experience displaying excellent interpersonal and customer service skills.
• Experience collaborating with diverse internal and external program partners.
• Experience with data visualization packages (Microsoft Dynamics, Power Automate, Power BI, Python, Tableau, R), dashboards, and report generation.
• Proficient in MS Office (Excel, Access, Word, etc.).
• Experience with data administration and management functions (collection, cleaning, analysis, visualization, distribution etc.).
• Familiarity with modern database and information system technologies.
• Experience successfully managing data projects including meeting milestones and multiple deadlines simultaneously.
• Experience with professional skills including trustworthiness, dependability, initiative, problem solving, analytics, and results oriented.

Eligibility Requirements

• Citizenship: LPR or U.S. Citizen
• Degree: Master's Degree received within the last 60 months or anticipated to be received by 5/30/2026 12:00:00 AM.