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.

Funded in part by support of Bristol-Meyers Squibb (BMS), the Cost-Effectiveness Modeling Fellow uses datasets obtained from CDC’s Chronic Hepatitis Cohort Study (CHeCS) to conduct statistical and other types of modeling to better understand the cost-effectiveness of the different screening, treatment, and care options 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. This fellowship will help support the development of viral hepatitis screening and treatment guidelines and provide expertise on chronic viral hepatitis globally. Further, this fellowship will serve as a resource for global viral hepatitis prevention and vaccination activities and provide technical support for World Hepatitis Day.

Viral Hepatitis Surveillance

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. With support from Merck, in 2012 the Viral Hepatitis Surveillance Fellow examined two such datasets—National Medical Care Survey (NMCS) and the National Hospital Medical Care Survey (NHMCS) from the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS)/CDC. The fellow determined the type, frequency, and sequence of tests performed for patients to support diagnosis and treatment of viral hepatitis, especially hepatitis C; measured the frequency of tests that are part of hepatitis panels; measured the frequency with which signal-to-cutoff results are calculated; and described why testing is conducted for first antibody screening tests.

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.