Epidemiologist

State of Iowa•Des Moines - 50319 - Polk County, IA

About The Position

This position is for an Epidemiologist to help shape Iowa’s overdose prevention and response strategies. The role is part of the OD2A-S surveillance team and will involve transforming data into insights to support public health action statewide. The position offers opportunities for innovative projects, collaboration with partners, and meaningful work in public health. The key responsibilities include exploring overdose trends, identifying emerging risks, analyzing overdose data using SAS and advanced epidemiologic methods, supporting surveillance projects like the rapid opioid death detection (RODD) initiative, producing data visualizations and reports, providing technical assistance, conducting literature reviews, collaborating with various teams and partners, presenting data, and supporting data quality standards.

Requirements

Graduation from an accredited college or university with a graduate degree in public health with at least two courses related to the principles and practice of epidemiology.
Graduation from an accredited college or university with a non-public health graduate degree with at least two courses related to the principles and practice of epidemiology.
Three years of experience in applied epidemiology in an infectious, noninfectious, or chronic diseases; environmental poisonings or conditions; injury prevention; or a substance misuse related epidemiology program.
Public Health: 6 months’ experience, 12 semester hours, or a combination of both related to improving, maintaining, and protecting the general condition of health within society.
Mental Health: 6 months’ experience in providing service, treatment or assessment to those affected by mental health challenges.
Substance Abuse Programs: 6 months’ experience, 12 semester hours, or a combination of both in prevention programs, clinical substance abuse, or preventative abuse.
Epidemiology: 6 months experience, 12 semester hours, or a combination of both in epidemiology, which involves surveillance for diseases, development of protocols for data collection and analysis, ongoing analysis of data, and development and dissemination of written reports.
Quantitative Social Science Research: 6 months experience, 12 semester hours, or a combination of both in quantitative social science research in sociology, psychology, economics, government, public administration, or criminal justice.

Nice To Haves

Passionate about public health and energized by work that helps communities thrive
Analytical, curious, and eager to dive into complex datasets
Innovative and comfortable exploring new surveillance approaches
A strong communicator who can make complex data understandable
Collaborative, team-oriented, and enthusiastic about partnership work
Organized and detail-focused with a commitment to accuracy
Flexible, adaptable, and ready to respond to emerging trends
Inspired by the mission to make Iowa healthier and safer for all

Responsibilities

Explore overdose trends and identify emerging risks across Iowa
Analyze fatal and nonfatal overdose data using SAS and advanced epidemiologic methods
Support creative surveillance projects, including the rapid opioid death detection (RODD) initiative
Produce engaging dashboards, fact sheets, briefs, and visualizations
Provide technical assistance to SUDORS abstractors and DOSE reporting sites
Conduct literature reviews to strengthen surveillance and inform public health actions
Collaborate with the OD2A-S team, contractors, and statewide partners
Present data clearly to both technical and non-technical audiences
Participate in CDC grantee meetings, Iowa OD2A workgroups, and national collaborations
Support Division-wide data quality standards and epidemiologic reviews