Fellowships

The Viral Hepatitis Action Coalition is working to increase the capacity of the Division of Viral Hepatitis at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to address urgent needs and opportunities in the fight against viral hepatitis. The Coalition plans to help CDC engage fellows to take on priority research projects, serve as liaisons with partner organizations, and help communicate key hepatitis-related messages. Each fellowship opportunity requires the development of a public-private partnership through the Coalition and the CDC Foundation. Each year-long fellowship is projected to cost between $100,000 and $200,000. A summary of each fellowship opportunity is provided below.

The Cost-Effectiveness Modeling Fellow will use datasets obtained from CDC’s Chronic Hepatitis Cohort Study (CHeCS) to conduct statistical modeling and other types of modeling to better understand the cost-effectiveness of the different screening, treatment and care options that are now available for persons living with viral hepatitis, as well as the impact of the timing of these interventions (early versus late in the disease process).  Results of this modeling work will inform the development and revision of policy for the prevention and control of viral hepatitis.

In January 2010, the World Health Assembly adopted a resolution calling for a global approach to prevention and control of hepatitis B and C. The WHO Global Hepatitis Fellow will, under guidance from the CDC Medical Officer assigned to WHO, develop viral hepatitis screening and treatment guidelines and provide expertise on chronic viral hepatitis control at WHO, serve as a resource for viral hepatitis prevention and vaccination activities to WHO regional offices, provide technical support for WHO’s global burden of hepatitis disease project, and develop and support WHO’s Plan of Action for World Hepatitis Day.

Fellow to Improve Viral Hepatitis Vaccination, Screening, and Treatment Among Incarcerated Populations

Approximately 12,000 incarcerated persons have been diagnosed with hepatitis C in the United States. Currently, only those inmates with risk factors are screened; therefore, the true burden of hepatitis within Federal Bureau of Prisons (FBOP) settings is likely much higher. In collaboration with CDC and FBOP, this fellow will evaluate the effectiveness of risk-based screening, review treatment of and continuity of care for inmates currently diagnosed with hepatitis C; assess immunization status for hepatitis A and B; help revise CDC/FBOP hepatitis C screening and treatment guidelines; and develop guidelines for screening and treating prisoners to be used at state and local levels.

National viral hepatitis surveillance is a critical but unappreciated and underfunded component of the U.S. response to chronic viral hepatitis, and many large datasets that could inform public policy have not been evaluated. The Viral Hepatitis Surveillance Fellow will examine one such dataset—Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) data —and, if available, Atlanta Veterans Administration data. The fellow will determine the type, frequency, and sequence of tests performed for patients to support diagnosis and treatment of viral hepatitis, especially hepatitis C; measure the frequency of tests that are part of hepatitis panels; measure the frequency with which signal-to-cutoff results are calculated; and describe why testing is conducted (if possible) for first antibody screening tests.