Epidemiologist

SUMMARY

The California Emerging Infections Program (CEIP) is a program administered by Heluna Health. CEIP functions under a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and is a collaborative effort involving the California Department of Public Health (CDPH), the University of California, Berkeley, School of Public Health, and several local health departments.

Under general direction from the Associate Director and Principal Investigator, the Epidemiologist will support the goal of CEIP to assist local, state, and national efforts to conduct surveillance and applied epidemiologic research in emerging infectious diseases.

*Applicant must submit a resume and cover letter for consideration.

JOB QUALIFICATIONS

A successful candidate for this position will have a strong background in epidemiology and infectious diseases, excellent written and verbal communication skills, and a passion for public health and infectious disease surveillance.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS

• Leads or assists local health jurisdictions with all aspects of foodborne disease outbreak investigation, including outbreak recognition and case finding, design of appropriate epidemiological studies, case interviews, data collection, entry, analysis, and interpretation and liaising with public health officials and affected community members.
• Prepares and submits new project protocols, renewals/continuations, and amendments to IRB committees.
• Prepares formal investigation summaries for relevant local health jurisdictions and ensures timely and accurate reporting of all catchment-area foodborne disease outbreaks to CDPH and CDC FoodNet.
• Collaborates with CDPH’s Disease Investigations Section on investigations of multi-jurisdiction and multi-state foodborne disease clusters and outbreaks.
• Attends regular CDPH Disease Investigations Section calls
• Supervises and/or trains CEIP staff members, particularly those involved with outbreak investigations and special FoodNet related studies; may also assist with other CEIP special studies.
• Assists with preparation of annual FDA Retail Food grant application and progress report and serves as the Epidemiologist on this project.
• Attends regular FDA Retail Food National Antimicrobial Resistance Monitoring System (NARMS) calls, including working groups.
• Prepares summaries and analyses of surveillance data.
• Disseminates important public health findings in a variety of formats, including oral presentation and peer-reviewed manuscript publication. 
• Proposes and initiates new FoodNet projects and analyses at local and national levels.
• Attends and/or leads Working Group conference calls regarding FoodNet, including geospatial and health equity working groups.
• Attends FoodNet annual meetings.
• Performs geocoding of surveillance cases using ArcGIS.
• Master's Degree in Public Health (MPH) or related degree required. Epidemiology coursework required.

Education/Experience

Public Health Experience Requirements 

• Minimum one year experience in infectious diseases in either clinical, public health, or research setting.
• Minimum one year experience with Microsoft Excel and Access for data management.
• Minimum one year of conducting analyses using statistical software (SAS preferred).
• Experience with foodborne outbreak investigations is preferred.

Other Qualifications

• Analytical Skills - Ability to use thinking and reasoning to solve a problem.
• Conceptual Thinking - Ability to think in terms of abstract ideas.
• Technical Aptitude - Ability to comprehend complex technical topics and specialized information and willingness to adapt and learn new technologies.
• Accuracy - Ability to perform work accurately and thoroughly. 
• Detail Oriented - Ability to pay attention to the minute details of a project or task. 
•  Research Skills - Ability to design and conduct a systematic, objective, and critical investigation. 

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

• Stand                                              Frequently
• Walk                                               Frequently
• Sit                                                   Frequently
• Handling / Fingering                  Occasionally
• Reach Outward                           Occasionally
• Reach Above Shoulder               Occasionally
• Climb, Crawl, Kneel, Bend         Occasionally
• Lift / Carry                                    Occasionally - Up to 50 lbs
• Push/Pull                                      Occasionally - Up to 50 lbs
• See                                                Constantly
• Taste/ Smell                                 Not Applicable

KEY

Not Applicable        Not required for essential functions
Occasionally           (0 - 2 hrs/day)
Frequently               (2 - 5 hrs/day)
Constantly                (5 hrs/day)

WORK ENVIRONMENT

General Office Setting, Indoors Temperature Controlled

EEOC STATEMENT

It is the policy of Heluna Health to provide equal employment opportunities without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, genetic information, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.

*Applicant must submit a resume and cover letter for consideration.