CDC Birth Defects Monitoring and Research Branch Fellowship

* Applications will be reviewed on a rolling-basis.

A research opportunity is available in the Birth Defects Monitoring and Research Branch (BDMRB), Division of Birth Defects and Infant Disorders (DBDID) of the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia. The fellowship is located on the CDC Chamblee Campus, Building 106, 3rd Floor.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is one of the major operation components of the Department of Health and Human Services. CDC protects 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.

CDC increases the health security of our nation. As the nation’s health protection agency, CDC saves lives and protects people from health threats. To accomplish its mission, CDC conducts important science and provides health information that protects our nation against expensive and dangerous health threats, and responds when these arise.

The National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD)'s mission is to improve the health of children and adults by preventing birth defects and developmental disabilities, and complications of heredity blood disorders; promoting optimal child development, and the health and wellness among children and adults living with disabilities.

Participants under this fellowship opportunity will train within the Birth Defects Monitoring and Research Branch (BDMRB), Division of Birth Defects and Infant Disorders (DBDID) of the National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities (NCBDDD) at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia. The BDMRB conducts birth defects surveillance and research into the possible causes and long term outcomes of birth defects, and conducts scientific activities related to intervention and prevention research.

Training will occur under the direction of an assigned Mentor.

The purpose of this fellowship program is to provide an educational experience to individuals interested in the field of public health and reproductive and birth defects epidemiology. Opportunities are aimed at furthering your health communication science, epidemiological and analytical knowledge. Your training involves some or all of the following:

• Develop skills in conducting literature searches and synthesizing scientific evidence relevant to birth defects, stillbirth, and related public-health topics.
• Gain experience learning how surveillance and research projects are conducted, including case-control studies designed to identify risk factors for birth defects and/or stillbirth.
• Learn to translate scientific research and data into clear, accurate, and accessible public-facing materials.
• Learn about website content development and approaches used to support scientific communication.
• Strengthen proficiency using statistical software, such as SAS, R, or similar tools, to manage, analyze, and summarize data, including large genetic datasets.
• Learn how spina bifida patient registries are organized and analyzed, and gain experience contributing to analytic activities under mentor guidance.
• Gain experience analyzing large administrative healthcare datasets, such as Market Scan.
• Develop skills in linking and analyzing U.S. Census data to support population-based research and public-health analyses.
• Collaborate with clinical-site partners to learn about processes for collecting, organizing, and interpreting medical-record data.
• Build capacity to summarize and present findings for internal and external scientific, public-health, and community audiences.
• Prepare scientific abstracts, manuscripts, posters, presentations, fact sheets, and other materials that communicate research and surveillance findings.

You will train on various projects and can expect to gain learning experiences that increase your knowledge of birth defects and other infant disorders; apply systematic approaches to conducting literature reviews; learn data management and data-quality methods; enhance quantitative analytic skills using SAS, R, or similar tools; strengthen written and oral scientific communication abilities through manuscripts and presentations; and build…