CDC Biothreat Radar Strategy, Integration, and Evaluation Fellowship

*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.

A key research and implementation challenge is understanding how diverse surveillance capabilities can function as an integrated ecosystem and how progress toward that goal can be assessed. You will engage in applied research and analysis focused on the integration, implementation, and evaluation of activities across the Biothreat Radar portfolio.

Under the mentorship of BTRO leadership and subject matter experts, you will have opportunities to conduct environmental scans, literature reviews, and targeted research on biosurveillance and early-warning systems; examine Biothreat Radar projects to identify milestones, dependencies, gaps, overlap, and opportunities for integration; explore methods for measuring development and performance; analyze how clinical, laboratory, genomic, environmental, event-based, and other surveillance capabilities, contribute complementary signals; develop analytical approaches, visualizations, trackers, and other tools for understanding portfolio performance; synthesize scientific, programmatic, and operational information; translate findings into technical summaries and briefing materials; engage with CDC scientists and partners; and participate in special analytical projects addressing emerging questions and capability gaps.

Learning Objectives: Through this opportunity, you will gain knowledge and practical experience in biosurveillance, emerging biological threats, public health preparedness, program evaluation, performance measurement, portfolio analysis, evidence-informed decision support, enterprise-level public health planning, multidisciplinary collaboration, and the translation of complex technical information for scientific and executive audiences.

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.