CDC Youth and Community Violence Prevention 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.

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: The Youth and Community Violence Prevention Fellow will advance the science and practice of youth violence and community violence prevention through training on two projects: 

1. Economic Support Policies and Multiple Forms of Violence: Economic supports are a type of antipoverty policy that may improve the social, financial, and structural conditions that increase a community’s risk for involvement in multiple forms of violence. These policies, some of which provide cash assistance to families with low incomes or earnings, have the potential to reduce poverty and economic inequality, affect health and social resources (e.g., housing, healthcare, transportation, education), and reduce exposure to violence (e.g., child abuse and neglect, youth violence, partner violence, community violence). 

Under the guidance of REB SMEs, an ORISE fellow will learn about and collaborate on a systematic review and meta-analysis examining and summarizing the evidence base for economic support policies for the prevention of multiple forms of violence. The fellow will also explore the utility of CDC's generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) technology to train in violence prevention research, including scoping and systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and program evaluations. As an extension of this work, the fellow will collaborate on the development of a rigorous evaluation plan for one or more economic support policies to examine their impact on the prevention of violence. If time allows, the fellow may complete the policy evaluation. 

2. Syndromic Surveillance Systems and Tracking Trends in Youth and Community Violence: Syndromic surveillance is a public health monitoring system that collects and analyzes data from emergency department visits to detect potential outbreaks or health events before they are confirmed by diagnosis. This data is queried using ICD-10CM codes to track symptoms and syndromes that may indicate emerging public health threats. 

With support from REB SMEs, an ORISE fellow will be asked to use CDC surveillance systems, such as syndromic surveillance, to monitor trends of youth and community violence and identify correlates of violence-related injuries.

Learning Objectives:

• Increase understanding of evidence-based violence prevention programs, policies, and practices targeting multiple levels of influence (e.g., individual, interpersonal, community, social).
• Enhance knowledge of gaps and opportunities in the empirical literature on economic support policies as a strategy to prevent multiple forms of violence.
• Gain knowledge on the utility of GenAI to support violence prevention research.
• Further develop skills to design a policy evaluation to examine a policy's impact on the prevention of violence.
• Learn to query surveillance systems to monitor trends in youth and community violence.
• Gain experience in leadership through project management training; prepare a manuscript and conference presentation; and collaborate and engage with an interdisciplinary research group.

Mentor(s): The mentors for this opportunity are Elizabeth Parker (toe7@cdc.gov) and Ashley D’Inverno (lyi5@cdc.gov). If you have questions about the nature of the research please contact the mentors.

Anticipated Appointment Start Date: October 13, 2024. Start date is flexible and will depend on a variety of factors.

Appointment Length: The appointment will initially be for ten months, 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 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.NCIPC@orau.org and include the reference code for this opportunity.

Qualifications

The qualified candidate should have received a master's degree or doctoral degree within the last 60 months or currently pursuing.

Preferred skills:

• Experience with youth and community violence prevention research, community-based prevention research, and public health policy research.
• Experience with or knowledge of violence prevention, community-based violence prevention interventions, health equity, social determinants of health, injury surveillance, economic support policies, or other related research areas.
• Experience or knowledge of methods to conduct systematic literature reviews.
• Training or experience with qualitative and quantitative methods applied to public health programs.
• Training or experience with quantitative data analysis and rigorous evaluation of prevention strategies and interventions, including policy evaluation.
• Strong communication, strategic thinking, and interpersonal skills.
• Strong written and oral communications skills demonstrated by scientific publications and presentations.
• Ability to collaborate with other scientific and professional staff on behavioral research.

Eligibility Requirements

• Citizenship: U.S. Citizen Only
• Degree: Master's Degree or Doctoral Degree received within the last 60 months or currently pursuing.