Opening Date: December 5, 2018

Closing Date: January 3, 2019

Expected Start Date: February 4, 2019

Compensation: $65,000.00

Employment Term: 12 months

Agency: West Virginia Department of Health, Charleston, WV 25301

Web Address: https://dhhr.wv.gov/oeps/Pages/default.aspx

Summary Statement: The Epidemiologist will work full-time, on-site for 12 months at the WV Office of Epidemiology and Prevention Services (OEPS)*. They will work in collaboration with other offices within the Bureau for Public Health and partners to complete the overdose assessment. Specifically, the Epidemiologist will direct the collection and analysis of data pertinent to vulnerability assessments that identify sub-regional areas at high risk for opioid overdoses as well as viral bloodborne pathogens associated with non-sterile drug injection.

The Epidemiologist will produce the following deliverables

• Establish relationships with stakeholder groups to provide input on vulnerability assessment and target services.
  • Identify data sources and complete data use agreements where appropriate.
• Complete assessments of counties at high risk of opioid overdoses as well as bloodborne pathogen outbreaks, especially HIV, HCV and HBV, associated with non-sterile drug injection.
  • Draw on CDC national assessment and produce maps identifying high-risk counties and regions.
• Develop recommendations to address gaps and prioritize deployment of services including treatment services for opioid use disorder and testing of populations at-risk for HIV, HCV, and HBV infection.
  • Recommendations should be tailored to county and public health regional jurisdictions and identify strategic partners to address gaps.
• Communicate assessment findings with stakeholders via public meetings and reports.

* This position is a contractor and is not employed by the West Virginia Department of Health or the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists. Relocation expenses are not included.

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Perform advanced professional work and function as a technical expert in epidemiology.
• Collaborate with information systems group to help implement an epidemiological data collection system related to overdose and suspected overdose.
• Conduct data investigations supportive of promoting and advancing knowledge of drug use and substance use disorder contributions to viral bloodborne pathogen rates and incidence.
• Other duties as assigned.

QUALIFICATIONS

• A doctorate degree or master’s degree plus 2 years of professional experience from an accredited college or university in epidemiology, public health, veterinary medicine, preventive medicine, medicine, biological, physical, behavioral or environmental sciences including at least two courses in biostatistics.

• Substitution: Completion of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Epidemic Intelligence Service or public health prevention specialist training can substitute for the required training.
• Proficient with SAS or R statistical programming and ArcGIS.
• Ability to prioritize and complete tasks independently.
• Ability to engage diverse stakeholders and work cooperatively with multiple interest groups.
• Effective written and oral communication skills, including the ability to translate data into action.
• Skilled in data presentation and visualization.
• Broad understanding of the evolving characteristics of the opioid crisis as well as related comorbidities.
• Understanding of ecological analysis and/or rural health.

• Lead author on at least one public health publication, report, or white paper.

View the full job description and application instructions here.