CDC Public Health Informatics & Data Fellowship

About the role

The Office of Readiness and Response (ORR) is a central hub within CDC providing oversight for preparedness, readiness, and response operations. CDC protects America from health, safety and security threats, conducts science, and provides health information to protect the nation and respond to threats. The Strategic Capacity Building and Innovation Program (SCIP) relies on a centralized data collection and reporting platform (PRISM) to support funding management, project monitoring, performance reporting, and program oversight across CDC Centers, Institutes, and Offices.

Responsibilities

• Train and collaborate on continuous improvement of SCIP’s data collection and reporting platform by advancing public health informatics, systems analysis, and user-centered design practices.
• Collaborate with program staff, system developers, and end users to identify enhancement opportunities, track and manage help requests, conduct user acceptance testing, and support training efforts.
• Design and plan a SCIP System Performance and User Experience Assessment to evaluate platform utilization, user support trends, training effectiveness, and opportunities for future enhancements.
• Contribute to the development of a more responsive, data-driven, and user-centered platform while gaining experience in public health informatics, systems improvement, user experience evaluation, stakeholder engagement, training development, and performance measurement.

Learning Objectives

• Track, prioritize, and manage system enhancement requests and user support tickets to ensure timely resolution and continuous system improvement.
• Coordinate, document, and resolve requests from system users.
• Conduct user acceptance testing (UAT) and validate system enhancements to ensure functionality and readiness for deployment.
• Identify documentation needs and maintain system documentation, user guides, and job aids that support user adoption and performance.
• Analyze user challenges, identify root causes, and recommend solutions that improve the overall user experience.
• Apply system analysis and collaboration skills to support developers in implementing enhancements that increase system efficiency, effectiveness, and user satisfaction.

Qualifications

• Currently pursuing or have received an associate’s, bachelor’s, or master’s degree in one of the relevant fields.
• Degree must have been received within the past five years or be anticipated to be received by 1/31/2026.

Preferred Skills

• SharePoint architecture including sites, pages, libraries and lists.
• Microsoft Power Platform tools and Power Automate.
• Background in Computer Science, Information Technology, Data Science, Information Systems, Computer Information Systems, or Health Informatics.

Mentorship and Start Details

The mentor for this opportunity is Jana Austin (aun6@cdc.gov). Questions about the research may be directed to the mentor.

Anticipated start date: October 12, 2026; start date is flexible depending on various factors.

Appointment Terms

The appointment is initially for one year and may be renewed upon recommendation of CDC and subject to the availability of funds. The appointment is full time.

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; health insurance can be obtained through ORISE.

U.S. citizenship is required.

The successful applicant(s) must comply with Environmental, Safety and Health requirements of the hosting facility, including COVID-19 requirements (e.g., facial covering, physical distancing, testing, vaccination).