Epidemiologist

Position Highlights

Position Title: Epidemiologist

Location: Hybrid- Phoenix, AZ (Arizona Department of Health Services)

Position End Date: 09/29/27

Salary: $65,000, plus benefits

Overview:

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) Capacity Building Initiative program. Under this cooperative agreement, CDC Foundation will hire and place epidemiologists in OD2A Capacity Building Initiative 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 Arizona Department of Health Services; analyzing data to determine patterns and causes of drug overdoses in fatal [i.e., State Unintentional Drug Overdose Reporting System (SUDORS), Death Certificates] and nonfatal [i.e., Drug Overdose Surveillance and Epidemiology (DOSE), Medical Electronic Disease Surveillance Intelligence System (MEDSIS), Hospital Discharge Database (HDD)] systems; implementing innovative surveillance projects; and disseminating important results for local communities to implement prevention and response efforts.

Minimum Qualifications:

● 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, and familiarity with the SQL language

● Organizational skills demonstrate 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, Google Suite, PowerBI,and Zoom

Responsibilities:

· Work with the drug overdose surveillance teams at OD2A-funded health departments to refine their epidemiology surveillance data processing and evaluate drug overdose data sources to identify gaps with particular focus on stimulants and emerging drugs/adulterants.

● Support the implementation of innovative surveillance activities within OD2A-funded health departments, such as developing automated population-spike detection algorithms using syndromic surveillance data to issue rapid alerts to healthcare facilities and public partners.

● Maintain and refine the existing, public-facing dashboards and fulfill internal and external overdose data requests.

● Assist in optimizing reporting compliance and enhancing data completeness in MEDSIS, including the validation of non-fatal opioid overdose data quality.

● Develop summary and state-specific fact sheets, surveillance reports, and/or data visualizations based on nonfatal and fatal drug overdose data, including stimulant trends.

● Conduct literature reviews on drug overdose-related topics.

● Present surveillance findings, data trends, and data visualizations to internal and external partners to inform local prevention and response efforts.

● Actively participate in discussions of how to best use OD2A data for action.

● Serves as a point of contact for various personnel regarding moderately complex epidemiologic issues, as assigned by the supervisor.

● Support development of policies and procedures for new and existing disease control programs.

● Supports risk communication activities by translating complex overdose surveillance data into clear, accurate, and actionable messages for public health partners.

● Engage and collaborate with internal and external partners to strengthen overdose surveillance strategies, identify data gaps, and translate surveillance findings into actionable prevention and response efforts.

● Participate in any drug related public health emergency should it arise.

Special Notes:

This role is involved in a dynamic public health program. As such, roles and responsibilities are subject to change as situations evolve. Roles and responsibilities listed above may be expanded upon or updated to match priorities and needs, once written approval is received by both the CDC Foundation and Arizona DOH in order to best support Arizona in their public health programming.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, mental or physical disabilities, veteran status, and all other characteristics protected by law.

We comply with all applicable laws including E.O. 11246 and the Vietnam Era Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 governing employment practices and do not discriminate on the basis of any unlawful criteria in accordance with 41 C.F.R. §§ 60-300.5(a)(12) and 60-741.5(a)(7). As a federal government contractor, we take affirmative action on behalf of protected veterans.

The CDC Foundation is a smoke-free environment.

Relocation expenses are not included.

About the CDC Foundation

The CDC Foundation helps the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) save and improve lives by unleashing the power of collaboration between CDC, philanthropies, corporations, organizations, and individuals to protect the health, safety and security of America and the world. The CDC Foundation is the go-to nonprofit authorized by Congress to mobilize philanthropic partners and private-sector resources to support CDC’s critical health protection mission. Since 1995, the CDC Foundation has raised over $1 billion and launched more than 1,000 programs impacting a variety of health threats from chronic disease conditions including cardiovascular disease and cancer to infectious diseases like rotavirus and HIV, to emergency responses, including COVID-19 and Ebola. The CDC Foundation managed hundreds of CDC-led programs in the United States and in more than 140 countries last year. Learn more at www.cdcfoundation.org.