Fellow Stories

Key points

  • Prevention Effectiveness (PE) fellows share stories about their unique experiences and the impact that PE has had on their careers.
  • PE fellows have been awarded for their work at CDC.

Opportunities & Updates

Fellowship Application: Traditional Track and Analytics and Modeling Track

The application periods for both tracks are closed. Check back in September 2024 for the next opportunity.

Fellow Experiences

Scott Grosse, Traditional Track

"During my PE Fellowship I learned how to integrate economics and public health to address important policy questions." -Dr. Scott Grosse, PE Fellowship Class of 1996

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Nelly Mejia, Traditional Track

Learn how Nelly’s work as a health economist in CDC’s Center for Global Health helps stop the spread of diseases and improves the health of people around the world. (Nelly Mejia was a PE fellow in the 2019 class.)

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Arden Baxter, Analytics and Modeling Track

Prevention Effectiveness fellow Arden Baxter, female with brown hair
Arden Baxter, PhD, (2022 class) is working on the Prevention Modeling and Economics Team in CDC's Division of HIV Prevention, where she applies modeling and analytical techniques to help end the HIV epidemic in the U.S. Earning her bachelor's degree in mathematics and computer science inspired her interest in applying mathematics to address health problems, leading to her pursuit of a PhD in Operations Research from Georgia Tech. In her studies, she learned and applied modeling techniques to various projects. In one project, she used an agent-based model to predict the impact of intervention strategies on the spread of COVID-19 in Georgia, working with the Georgia Department of Public Health--serving as her first real-world opportunity working with health partners.
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Rany Octaria, Analytics and Modeling Track

Prevention Effectiveness fellow Rany Octaria, female with headscarf covering her head and neck
Rany Octaria, PhD, MPH, is working in CDC's National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion. She has developed an interactive website of patient transfer networks among facilities in the U.S. She works on models for regional transmissions of multidrug-resistant organisms (MDROs), parameter estimation, and mathematical modeling for MDROs in Southeast Asia. Prior to the PE Fellowship, Dr. Octaria worked as an Epidemiologist at the Tennessee Department of Health (TDH), where she managed surveillance data under the healthcare-associated infections and antimicrobial resistance (HAI-AR) program and led the COVID-19 data steward team. She earned her PhD in Epidemiology and MPH in Public Health from Vanderbilt University and practiced as a family physician in Indonesia.
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Testimonials

PE Fellow

"I would like to emphasize the uniqueness of the PE Fellowship training, compared with other postdoctoral training in health economics and health policy: (1) public health focused, (2) problem oriented and applied approach, (3) multi-disciplinary environment and collaboration. No other Federal agencies and institutions can do this training as well as CDC."

Ping Zhang, PhD, Senior Economist, CDC Division of Diabetes Prevention, PE Fellowship Class of 1995

PE Fellow Mentors and Supervisors

"The PE fellow is an integral part of our team. He brings a skill set that allows him to fill gaps in many areas across our Division including cancer research, the economics of cancer survivorship, and health policy. He works closely with the Office of the Director. He is currently working with the Associate Director for Science to examine the cost and cost-effectiveness of a national colorectal cancer screening program."

Don Ekwueme, PhD, Senior Health Economist, CDC Division of Cancer Prevention and Control, PE Fellowship Class of 1996

"The PE fellow's work has been essential to CDC's agenda in evaluating the cost-effectiveness of newborn screening for critical congenital heart defects."

Cynthia Cassell, PhD, Public Health Ethics Lead, CDC Division of Birth Defects and Developmental Disorders

Awards

CDC Charles C. Shepard Science Awards

In 1986, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (CDC/ATSDR) established the Charles C. Shepard Science Awards. The awards recognize excellence in science at CDC and ATSDR. The award categories are: Assessment, Prevention and Control, Laboratory Science, Data Methods and Study Design, and Health Equity Science.

PE fellows and alumni have earned the Charles C. Shepard Health Equity Science Award every year it's been given:

  • 2021: Xu Ji, Scott D. Grosse, Rui Li. "Association of Smoke-Free Laws with Preterm or Low Birth Weight Deliveries: A Multistate Analysis" published in Health Services Research.
  • 2022: Austin Williams. "Racial and Ethnic Disparities in COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage: The Contribution of Socioeconomic and Demographic Factors" published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
  • 2023: Shichao Tang. "Are Home Evictions Associated with Child Welfare System Involvement? Empirical Evidence from National Eviction Records and Child Protective Services Data" published in Child Maltreatment.

CDC Health Economic Research Group (HERG) Awards

The HERG Award recognizes outstanding scientific contributions in economics and decision sciences at CDC, published in a peer-reviewed journal during the previous calendar. The award is given annually by the HERG to an original research paper by CDC scientists for its outstanding scientific contribution in applying economic methods, theories, and knowledge, to analyze a public health problem. The HERG Impact award recognizes an important public health or prevention issue using a state-of-the-art economic method, including economic evaluation, and offers information to directly inform public health programs, interventions, or policies.

  • 2020: Austin Williams and Harrell Chesson. "Impacts of Federal Prevention Funding on Reported Gonorrhea and Chlamydia Rates" published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
  • 2022: "Seonghye Jeon and Martin I. Meltzer. "The Urgency of Resuming Disrupted Dog Rabies Vaccination Campaigns: A Modeling and Cost-Effectiveness Analysis" published in Scientific Reports.
  • 2023:
    • Non-emergency Response: Shichao Tang. Are Home Evictions Associated with Child Welfare System Involvement? Empirical Evidence from National Eviction Records and Child Protective Services Data" published in the Child Maltreatment.
    • Emergency Response: Christopher Dunphy and Gabrielle F. Miller. "The Differential Impact of Reopening States with and without COVID-19 Face Mask Mandates on County-Level Consumer Spending" published in the Public Health Reports.
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Content Source:
Public Health Infrastructure Center; Division of Workforce Development