Epidemiologist

About the position

The CDC Foundation is working with CDC and state and local authorities to provide surge staff to support surveillance, prevention and response activities within the Overdose Data to Action (OD2A) program. Under this cooperative agreement, CDC Foundation will hire and place epidemiologists in OD2A jurisdictions who demonstrate a need for epidemiology support to implement OD2A objectives. The epidemiologist will conduct surveillance and epidemiologic activities including assisting partners with the collection and sharing of drug overdose data with the health department; analyzing data to determine patterns and causes of drug overdoses in fatal [i.e., State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System (SUDORS)] and nonfatal [i.e., Drug Overdose Surveillance and Epidemiology (DOSE)] systems; implementing innovative surveillance projects; and disseminating important results for local communities to implement prevention and response efforts.

Responsibilities

• Work with the drug overdose surveillance teams at OD2A-funded health departments to refine their epidemiology surveillance data processing
• Conduct literature reviews on drug overdose-related topics
• Develop summary and state-specific fact sheets and/or data visualizations based on nonfatal and fatal drug overdose data
• Develop manuscripts, surveillance reports, and/or data briefs
• Assist health departments in the submission of DOSE data including validation of site reports
• Support the implementation of innovative surveillance activities within OD2A-funded health departments
• Provide assistance to SUDORS data abstractors as it relates to applying the SUDORS case definition or interpreting SUDORS coding guidance
• Assist with the completion or review of SUDORS closeout reports
• Provide assistance with implementation and evaluation of the rapid opioid death detection (RODD) activity, including assessing case definition validity measures (i.e., sensitivity and positive predictive value) if applicable.
• Actively participate in discussions of how to best use OD2A data for action
• Attend DOSE and SUDORS workgroup meetings
• Provides training, technical assistance, and consultative services regarding epidemiology and the control of diseases.
• Serves as a point of contact for various personnel regarding moderately complex epidemiologic issues.
• Develops policies and procedures for new and existing disease control programs.

Requirements

• A Master’s degree is required (preferably in public health or a health-related field)
• At least two years of experience leading the analysis of both qualitative and quantitative data
• Proven ability to publish in peer-reviewed journals and present findings at conferences
• Proficient in at least one statistical analysis software program, SAS is preferred, as well as Microsoft Office Suite
• Organizational skills demonstrating high attention to detail and the ability to organize multiple priorities.
• Strong communication skills, both written and oral
• Experience working collaboratively with diverse stakeholders and engaging in strategic partnerships and strong interpersonal skills required for teamwork and interaction with people across CDC and with external partners
• Strong understanding of design and implementation of research and epidemiologic studies
• Demonstrated ability to work well independently and within teams
• Experience working in a virtual environment with remote partners and teams
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Teams and Zoom

Benefits

• Remote work opportunity
• Salary of 75k