The CDC Foundation helps the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) save and improve lives by unleashing the power of collaboration between CDC, philanthropies, corporations, organizations and individuals to protect the health, safety and security of America and the world. The CDC Foundation is the go-to nonprofit authorized by Congress to mobilize philanthropic partners and private-sector resources to support CDC’s critical health protection mission. Since 1995, the CDC Foundation has raised over $1.9 billion and launched more than 1,300 programs impacting a variety of health threats from chronic disease conditions including cardiovascular disease and cancer, to infectious diseases like rotavirus and HIV, to emergency responses, including COVID-19 and Ebola. The CDC Foundation managed hundreds of programs in the United States and in more than 90 countries last year. Visit www.cdcfoundation.org for more information.  

Position Title: Health Scientist (Syndemic Infectious Disease)

Location: Onsite – Chicago, IL

Position End Date: 9/30/2025

Salary: $100,000, plus benefits

Anticipated Schedule: M – F 8:30 AM to 4:30 PM CT

The CDC Foundation seeks candidates for a Health Scientist position to support activities addressing syndemic infectious diseases (SID) projects for the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH). The Health Scientist will work closely with jurisdiction staff to support SID epidemiology, evaluation, surveillance and intervention activities for the Bureau of SID, Division of Public Health Services (PHS). The Health Scientist will work to provide surveillance expertise to the team and contribute significantly to abstracts and articles related to syndemic disease.

· (Essential) PhD in Epidemiology of Infectious Diseases, Biostatistics, or similar from an accredited school of public health AND minimum of 2 years post-academic professional experience in public health survey research and design required.

· Minimum of 2 years professional experience managing and analyzing quantitative data with programs such as SAS, SUDAAN or STATA.

· Minimum of 2 years Python, SQL, and/or Tableau and/or Power BI experience

· Demonstrated experience working or collaborating on syndemic infectious disease programs or projects.

· Ability to develop cooperative agreements, grant proposals, and/or contract budgets, narratives, and work plans.

· Demonstrated experience maintaining effective working relationships with a variety of agencies, programs, and other stakeholders.

· Highly detail oriented, works well within a diverse team, demonstrates a high degree of initiative and flexibility adapt to shifting priorities, able to communicate effectively in a positive and professional manner, able to prioritize activities when under tight deadlines.

· Excellent written and verbal communication skills with experience preparing, writing, and editing complex documents such as data dictionaries, codebooks, detailed reports, briefing documents for stakeholders/partners and peer-reviewed articles.

· Ability to plan, develop, implement and coordinate public information campaigns in-house or through contract services.

· Sound judgment and maturity, exemplified by consistent professionalism in dealing with individuals at all levels both internally and externally.

· Demonstrates a high degree of initiative and flexibility adapt to shifting priorities, able to communicate effectively in a positive and professional manner, able to prioritize activities under tight deadlines.

· Ability to work effectively with personal computer and rapidly learn new software tools.

· Ability to develop and implement project procedures and guidelines.

· Independently perform complex analyses of public health data and prepare reports, manuscripts, abstracts, posters and/or presentations based on these analyses.

· Lead collaboration on programs/projects/studies, coordinating efforts with other program staff and stakeholders, including academic institutions.

· Provide technical advice and assistance to local health agencies and other organizations.

· Identify and analyze public health issues and their impact on operations that are critical to the public health community at large.

· Advise the evaluation, planning, design, implementation, and analysis of complex projects.

· Develop protocols, analytical plans, and proposals.

· Develop policy and objectives, appraising programs, and initiating requirements for health science studies.

· Respond to technical and scientific assistance requests from governmental agencies and other partners.

· Review literature related to measuring and evaluating public health capacity and performance at local, state and national levels.

· Develop or use innovative methodologies and techniques to address public health issues.

· Review and analyze studies and projects assessing major and or sensitive public health issues to make recommendations.

· Advise and mentor program specialists on difficult and complex scientific problems and issues, including epidemiological analyses and use of data visualization software.

· Lead drafting and analysis of scientific plan for SID data.

· Adhere to the CDC Data Security and Confidentiality Guidelines for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD and Tuberculosis (TB).

· Comply with all ethical guidelines for scientific and human subjects' research.

· Lead project-related meetings and calls.

· Complete supportive and/or scientific tasks, as required.

This role is involved in a dynamic public health program. As such, roles and responsibilities are subject to change as situations evolve. Roles and responsibilities listed above may be expanded upon or updated to match priorities and needs, once written approval is received by both the CDC Foundation and Chicago Department of Public Health, in order to best support the jurisdiction in their public health programming.

This position is an on-site position. CDC Foundation retains the right to make adjustments to this as required.

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, mental or physical disabilities, veteran status, and all other characteristics protected by law. We comply with all applicable laws including E.O. 11246 and the Vietnam Era Readjustment Assistance Act of 1974 governing employment practices and do not discriminate on the basis of any unlawful criteria in accordance with 41 C.F.R. §§ 60-300.5(a)(12) and 60-741.5(a)(7). As a federal government contractor, we take affirmative action on behalf of protected veterans.

The CDC Foundation is a smoke-free environment.

Relocation expenses are not included.

About the CDC Foundation The CDC Foundation helps the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) save and improve lives by unleashing the power of collaboration between CDC, philanthropies, corporations, organizations and individuals to protect the health, safety and security of America and the world. The CDC Foundation is the go-to nonprofit authorized by Congress to mobilize philanthropic partners and private-sector resources to support CDC’s critical health protection mission. Since 1995, the CDC Foundation has raised over $1.2 billion and launched more than 1,200 programs impacting a variety of health threats from chronic disease conditions including cardiovascular disease and cancer, to infectious diseases like rotavirus and HIV, to emergency responses, including COVID-19 and Ebola. The CDC Foundation managed hundreds of programs in the United States and in more than 140 countries last year. Learn more at www.cdcfoundation.org.

$100,000 - $100,000 a year