What are the responsibilities and job description for the CDC Artificial Intelligence for Biothreat Early Warning Fellowship position at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)?
*Applications will be reviewed on a rolling-basis.
CDC Office and Location: A fellowship opportunity is available at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (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 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.
Within CDC, the Biothreat Radar Office (BTRO) advances CDC's early-warning capabilities by setting the vision for Biothreat Radar, leading strategic integration across Biothreat Radar activities, coordinating programmatic efforts, driving innovation, expanding partnerships, and mobilizing resources. Biothreat Radar is an early-warning ecosystem that seeks to rapidly detect and assess known, novel, and unforeseen health threats to inform timely public health action.
Research Project: Biothreat Radar is an early-warning ecosystem designed to rapidly detect and assess known, novel, and unforeseen health threats and help translate emerging signals into timely public health action. It connects surveillance systems, scientific expertise, partnerships, data, analytics, and innovative technologies across CDC and partner organizations to strengthen the nation's ability to identify and understand emerging biological threats.
Artificial intelligence is creating new opportunities to strengthen public health early warning, threat assessment, analytics, and decision support. At the same time, rapidly evolving AI capabilities - including systems with increasing capabilities relevant to biology - raise important scientific, operational, evaluation, and biosecurity questions. You will engage in applied research and analysis examining the potential uses, performance, limitations, and implications of AI and related emerging technologies for Biothreat Radar mission needs.
Under the mentorship of BTRO leadership and subject matter experts, you will have opportunities to conduct environmental scans and technology assessments of emerging AI capabilities; identify and characterize priority AI use cases across the Biothreat Radar signal-to-action pathway; explore methods for evaluating AI tools for public health applications; participate in the development and testing of AI-enabled analytical approaches, prototypes; examine how AI can help integrate and interpret diverse epidemiologic, clinical, laboratory, genomic, environmental, event-based, and open-source information; explore approaches to rapidly synthesize scientific and public health information during emerging events; research biology-related AI capabilities and their implications for biosecurity; and contribute to frameworks for responsible evaluation and use of AI, including scientific validity, transparency, human oversight, uncertainty, and appropriate use.
Learning Objectives: Through this opportunity, you will gain knowledge and practical experience at the intersection of artificial intelligence, public health surveillance, emerging biological threats, and biosecurity, with exposure to real-world challenges in early warning, threat assessment, analytics, and public health decision support.
Mentor(s): The mentor for this opportunity is Cyrus Shahpar (iyp3@cdc.gov). If you have questions about the nature of the research, please contact the mentor(s).
Anticipated Appointment Start Date: October 1, 2026. Start date is flexible and will depend on a variety of factors.
Appointment Length: The appointment will initially be for one year, but may be renewed upon recommendation of CDC and is contingent on the availability of funds.
Level of Participation: The appointment is full time.
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.
Questions: Please visit our Program Website. After reading, if you have additional questions about the application process please email CDCrpp@orau.org and include the reference code for this opportunity.