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Recruitment for the 2021 Bioinformatics Fellows will begin in fall 2020!

The APHL-CDC Bioinformatics Fellowship aims to train and prepare bioinformaticians to apply their expertise within public health and design tools to aid existing public health personnel in the use of bioinformatics. The Bioinformatics Fellowships provide post-master’s and post-doctoral level professionals the opportunity to apply their skills to a range of important and emerging public health problems while gaining experience in their fields. Whether your specialty is metagenomics, algorithm/software development, microbial genomics or another research area, we have a place for you!

Learn more about the current fellows and their projects and watch a short video about the fellowship experience.

Program Specifics

The program is a one-year full-time working fellowship for master's- and doctoral- level bioinformaticians. Postdoctoral fellows may extend for an additional year, provided funding is available. Fellows are placed in state, local and federal (CDC) public health laboratories throughout the US and collaborate on a wide range of important and emerging public health problems. All fellows participate in an orientation session. Once in their host laboratories, fellows are supervised by an experienced mentor and work on real-world infectious disease projects. Fellows will collaborate with public health laboratorians, epidemiologists and other subject matter experts to synthesize and correlate data into actionable public health information as part of ongoing AMD projects. In addition to their project-specific work, fellows will participate in distance-based training and learning activities to achieve proficiency in select public health laboratory core competencies.

Examples of previous projects and research include: developing and validating pathogen-specific bioinformatics infrastructure for rabies, mumps, and Legionella pneumophilia, and foodborne pathogens, identifying molecular markers in the Influenza genome that can differentiate between Swine and Human lineages, analyzing and organizing genomic data for cluster detection, and more.

Prog​​​ram Benefits

Fellows receive a stipend and allowances for: required medical insurance, travel to the host laboratory, professional development, and complimentary student membership to APHL. The 2019 stipend starts at $54,095 for a master's-level fellow and $65,448 for a postdoctoral-level fellow, with a cost of living adjustment for major metropolitan areas. Find detailed information on terms, salary and expectations in the full bioinformatics fellowship description.

Eligib​ility and Requirements

Applicants must have completed a master's or doctoral degree in bioinformatics or a related discipline by the start date of their fellowship. Fellows should plan on starting July 1, but some flexibility in start dates may be considered to allow for degree completion. Applicants are required to have demonstrated education and/or experience in bioinformatics.

Application Process

Applicants are required to submit an online application to APHL by the application deadline. The application includes a narrative statement, resume or CV, three letters of recommendation and transcripts from all degree-granting institutions. Official transcripts will be required upon acceptance. It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure all materials are received by APHL by the application deadline. Applications that are incomplete or received after the deadline will not be considered.

2021-2022 Fellowship Timeline​*

November 2020 - Online applications available for prospective fellows

Late February - Early March 2021 - Deadline for receipt of application and supplemental materials to APHL

March 2021 - Review process

April 2021 - Applicants notified of status. Finalists invited to interview

April - May 2021 - Interviews, matching process for finalists

May 2021 - Final decisions and matches​

July 2021 - Fellows report to host laboratories and begin fellowship (Start dates can be flexible)​

​*This is a tentative fellowship application timeline and will be updated when applications open in fall 2020.

Host Labo​ratories

CDC and APHL member local and state laboratories interested in applying to host one or more Bioinformatics Fellows, please see the Host Laboratory Instructions and Application page.

Previous Host Laboratories include: Utah Public Health Laboratory, Molecular Epidemiology and Bioinformatics Laboratory-Division of Viral Hepatitis at the CDC, Massachusetts State Public Health Laboratory, Malaria Genomics Laboratory at the CDC, and Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

Questions?

Please check out our list of F​AQs about the program and the application process. If you have additional questions, please contact christin.hanigan@aphl.org.