Deadline; 6/3/20 but applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

A research opportunity is currently available with the Office of Epidemiology and Research (OER), in the Division of Epidemiology, of the Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB), within the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) located in Rockville, Maryland

The mission of OER is to: 1) Build data capacity at the national, State and local levels; 2) Strengthen the present and future workforce in maternal and child health (MCH) epidemiology and research; 3) Support applied research to ensure that MCH initiatives are evidence-based and reflect the state-of-the-science; and 4) Disseminate information and strengthen the evidence base in MCH.

OER plays a central role in MCHB through its support for performance measurement, data analysis, research, and evaluation activities across the bureau. Specifically, the Division of Epidemiology (DE) provides technical assistance and scientific consultation to all of MCHB’s divisions and offices across the lifecourse of program development, implementation, management, and performance assessment. In order to optimize this work, DE assigns a senior level epidemiologist or health services researcher to each MCHB division and office in order to customize the technical assistance provided to them. The selected participant will be paired with one of these senior staff members to observe, learn from, and apply new analytic and methodological approaches within the parameters of “real life” programmatic and policy decision making processes. 

Under the guidance of a mentor, the participant will be trained in the following four areas:

• Participate in research and analytic support, as appropriate, to selected programs and initiatives (e.g., Healthy Start, Home Visiting and related maternal health investments) to improve the development, implementation and/or monitoring of selected MCHB investments. Activities may be requested by the MCHB Performance Measurement and Data Council Chair, OER leadership and senior staff, and by the MCHB Office of the Associate Administrator and other MCHB Offices and Divisions.
• Contribute to research, analytic, and technical support to assess MCHB performance measurement and evaluation activities designed to quantify the impact of MCHB investments.
• Participate in support for the annual National Survey of Children’s Health, including data checks and analyses, communications with experts, and review and comment on content and design decisions.
• Collaborate with MCHB scientists and MCH experts on data analyses and presentations of the data to support HRSA’s and MCHB’s vision and mission.  Analyses utilizing MCHB-supported data will be prioritized and may result in manuscripts, data briefs and other materials of publishable quality.

Learning Goals and Objectives for this project include, but are not limited to:

• Gain first-hand exposure to and understanding of major maternal and child health investments supported by the Federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau
• Train in support of research, analyses and synthesis of performance measurement and/or evaluation data for major maternal and child health investments supported by the Federal Maternal and Child Health Bureau, e.g., Healthy Start
• Train in support of research and analyses of data from the National Survey of Children’s Health resulting in publishable written products, including a manuscript for submission to a peer-reviewed scientific journal
• Gain first-hand exposure to and understanding of how a major national survey is designed and implemented on an annual basis
• Refine data processing and analyses skills utilizing SAS/SUDAAN or STATA
• Refine and expand written and oral communicative skills and competencies

This program, administered by ORAU through its contract with the U.S. Department of Energy to manage the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education, was established through an interagency agreement between DOE and HHS. The initial appointment can be up to one year, but may be renewed upon recommendation of HHS contingent on the availability of funds. The participant will receive a monthly stipend commensurate with educational level and experience. Proof of health insurance is required for participation in this program. The appointment is full-time at HHS in the Rockville, Maryland, area. Participants do not become employees of HHS, DOE or the program administrator, and there are no employment-related benefits

Qualifications:

The qualified candidate should have received a master’s or doctoral degree in one of the relevant fields, or be currently pursuing one of the degrees and will reach completion by July 2020. Degree must have been received within five years of the appointment start date.

Preferred skills/experience:

• Coursework and/or professional experience in maternal and child health, program evaluation, performance measurement, and policy analysis
• Assessment and/or program development and management as related to the health of maternal and child populations
• Data analyses using statistical processing software packages, such as STATA or SAS
• Ability to critically search and synthesize scientific literature
• Strong written and oral communication skills

View the position and apply online here.