*Applications will be reviewed on a rolling- basis.
CDC Office and Location: This fellowship opportunity is available for a public health traineeship with the Disability and Health Promotion Branch (DHPB) of the Division of Human Development and Disability (DHDD), National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD) at the CDC 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.
NCBDDD seeks to promote the health of babies, children, and adults with disabilities. The work of NCBDDD includes identifying the causes of birth defects, developmental disabilities, helping children to develop and reach their full potential, and promoting health and well-being among people of all ages with disabilities. NCBDDD has three Divisions that carry out this mission: Division of Birth Defects and Infant Disorders (DBDID), Division of Human Development and Disability (DHDD), and Division of Blood Disorders (DBD). DHDD leads inclusive programs to optimize the health and development of children and adults with, or at risk for, disabilities. DHPB promotes healthy living across the lifespan to improve quality of life for all children and adults with and at risk for disability.
Research Project: The participant’s primary contribution will be to a new project titled “Engaging people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (ID/DD) to enhance functional disability representation in point of care settings.” The goal of this project is to increase representation of people with ID/DD in administrative data systems by engaging people with ID/DD and close informants to develop a functional disability demographic checklist including ID/DD to supplement existing survey questions in a checklist format for use at the point of care.
Learning Objectives: The participant will gain experience in public health project monitoring and coordination, communications, and analysis.
Under the guidance of a mentor from the Disability and Health Promotion Branch, the selected participant will also have the opportunity to train on other topics related to disability data and science. The projects and activities may include training on conducting analyses related to the identification and health outcomes of people with disabilities and other factors related to the epidemiology.
Training may also include enhancing the identification of individuals with disabilities in administrative and survey data for public health monitoring and evaluation of health and wellbeing outcomes and programs. The participants will also be able to gain experience and training on developing summaries of scientific literature, abstracts and manuscripts for publication in peer-reviewed journals, and presentations at internal and external professional meetings. In addition, the participant will gain hands-on training experience in qualitative methods applied to public health identification of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Throughout the fellowship, the participant will have opportunities to train with internal and external scientific researchers, partners, and public health professionals. The activities associated with this fellowship will include assisting the Disability and Health Promotion Branch’s efforts to advance aspects of public health impact associated with disabilities.
Mentor(s): The mentor for this opportunity is Joe Holbrook (vzt4@cdc.gov). If you have questions about the nature of the research please contact the mentor.
Anticipated Appointment Start Date: September 1, 2023. Start date is flexible and will depend on a variety of factors.
Appointment Length: The appointment will initially be for two years, 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: The participant will receive a monthly stipend commensurate with educational level and experience.
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.NCBDDD@orau.org and include the reference code for this opportunity.
