Academic Health Department

Description of Program Area:

The Syndemic Coordination (SC) Program resides within the Communicable and Environmental Diseases and Emergency Preparedness (CEDEP) division at the Tennessee Department of Health and engages in efforts to address the interconnected epidemics of HIV, sexually transmitted infections (STI), substance use disorder, and viral hepatitis in Tennessee. To address this syndemic, the SC Program engages a variety of programs within the Department of Health, the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services, and a variety of community-based organizations including all of Tennessee’s syringes services programs (SSP). 

This fellow would report to Amber Coyne, the Syndemic Coordination Director, but would also work closely with and have access to mentors across the HIV, sexually transmitted infections, substance use disorder, and viral hepatitis syndemic, offering a unique and dynamic fellowship opportunity. 

Responsibilities:

• Lead the development of regional and county profiles quantifying the net impact of the HIV, STI, substance use disorder and viral hepatitis on mortality in Tennessee.

• Collaborate with staff across the HIV, STI, and viral hepatitis section including the Syndemic Program Coordinator to develop a syndemic service locator tool inclusive of testing, prevention, and treatment services across this syndemic Tennessee to facilitate access in Tennessee. 

• Participate in the section’s outbreak response team to detect clusters, prepare for an outbreak response, and partner with jurisdictions to respond to increased morbidity from HIV, sexually transmitted infections, viral hepatitis, or emerging pathogens.

• Submit at least one abstract to a conference and publish at least one report, brief, manuscript, or other professional document advancing the understanding of this syndemic in Tennessee. 

• Support the Tennessee Harm Reduction Project ECHO learning series to advance the implementation of evidence-based harm reduction strategies in Tennessee to mitigate this syndemic.

Qualifications:

• Graduation from an accredited program in public health or health-related field within the last twelve months and prior to the start of the Fellowship (November).
• Masters-trained (e.g., MPH) or higher candidate.
• Skills in data management and analysis with a preferred experience using R, Tableau, and/or ArcGIS.
• Demonstrated public speaking, facilitation, and/or presentation skills.
• Proven flexibility and responsiveness to evolving programmatic/project needs.
• Strong interpersonal skills that promote successful collaboration and partnership building among diverse stakeholders.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office 365 (Word, PowerPoint, Excel).
• Experience in using Canva for visual communication and/or an interest in gaining proficiency with Canva. 

Employment Details: State Employee, base salary of $48,204 with State of Tennessee benefits and with the potential of an increase in salary if offered a second year

Description of Program Area:

The Division of Family Health and Wellness (FHW) Communications team supports internal and external messaging for the Division of Family Health & Wellness, which encompasses Maternal and Child Health, Special Supplemental Nutrition (WIC), and Chronic Disease and Health Promotion programs delivered across all 95 Tennessee counties. The team manages branding and compliance review for division materials, shepherds content through the department's approval chain, produces internal communications for FHW leadership, and supports staff training on department communication and productivity tools.

Responsibilities:

• Supporting web and digital accessibility remediation efforts tied to ADA Title II compliance, including tracking and documentation
• Drafting and editing internal communications, including staff-facing updates and leadership messaging
• Creating educational documents and materials that explain FHW's programs and work to internal and external audiences
• Supporting training sessions on Microsoft 365 tools (Outlook, Teams) and other communications platforms used across the division
• Assisting with document review and branding-standards compliance for FHW-produced materials before they move through the division's approval process

Qualifications:

•  Graduation from an accredited program in public health or health-related field within the last twelve months and prior to the start of the Fellowship (November).
  
• Bachelor's degree, preferably in public health, communications, journalism, English, graphic design, or a related field
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with attention to detail and accuracy
• Graphic design experience, including but not limited to Adobe Creative Suite (InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop) and/or Canva
• Comfort working with Microsoft Office (Word, Outlook, Teams) and willingness to learn division-specific tools and platforms
• Ability to manage multiple projects and deadlines in a collaborative, virtual office environment
• Interest in public health communications, health education, or state government operations

Employment Details: Contract Employee*, base salary discussed at time of offer and with the potential of an increase in salary if offered a second year

*Contract employees are not employees of the State of Tennessee and are, therefore, ineligible for Tennessee state benefits.

Description of Program Area:

Within the Division of Population Health Assessment, the Injury Surveillance Program (ISP) and Occupational Health Safety and Surveillance Program (OHSSP) work to improve the health and safety of Tennesseans through surveillance, data linkage, epidemiologic analysis, and dissemination of findings that inform prevention strategies, policies, and public health practice. Both programs work closely together and reside in the Office of Population Health Surveillance in the Division of Population Health Assessment. The ISP’s primary focus is to link crash report data from the Department of Safety and Homeland Security to health record data from the Department of Health. This data linkage enables the ISP and partners to monitor fatal and non-fatal motor vehicle traffic crash injury trends and understand how different crash factors contribute to health outcomes among road users in Tennessee.

The OHSSP works with available data sources to assess and track workers’ health within the state. These data sources include HDDS, Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS), and national sources such as Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). 

The fellow will have the opportunity to work with multiple statewide surveillance systems, including hospital discharge data, mortality data, BRFSS, and occupational health datasets. The fellow will lead a collaborative project spanning both surveillance programs that integrates multiple public health data systems to answer a high-priority injury or occupational health surveillance question. Findings will be translated into reports, data briefs, presentations, and other products that support public health action and decision-making across Tennessee. Under the joint mentorship and supervision of experienced epidemiologists in both programs, the fellow will gain practical experience in injury surveillance, occupational health surveillance, epidemiologic methods, scientific communication, and dissemination of public health findings.

 
Additional opportunities may be available based on the fellow's interests and program priorities, including conference presentations, manuscript development, and special analytic projects. The fellow will also have opportunities to participate in professional development activities, collaborate with multidisciplinary partners, and contribute to statewide public health initiatives.

Responsibilities:

• Collaborate with epidemiologists from two surveillance programs on at least one multi-data system project. 

• Conduct epidemiologic analyses using surveillance data. 

• Develop reports, fact sheets, dashboards, social media products, and scientific presentations. 

• Present findings to internal and external partners. 

• Assist with surveillance activities and quality improvement initiatives. 

• Contribute to manuscripts or conference abstracts when appropriate.
  

Qualifications:

• Graduation from an accredited program in public health or health-related field within the last twelve months and prior to the start of the Fellowship (November).
• Master's degree in public health or a closely related field.

• Attention to detail and excellent organizational skills.

• Strong experience managing and analyzing public health data (SAS preferred).

• Interpersonal skills that aid in team communication, efficiency, and collaboration.

• Demonstrated ability to write for diverse audiences.

• Interest in learning visual communication tools such as Canva.
  

Employment Details: State Employee, base salary of $48,204 with State of Tennessee benefits and with the potential of an increase in salary if offered a second year

Description of Program Area:

The Division of Strategic Initiatives includes the Office of Community Collaboration and Impact (CCI) and the Office of Strategic Planning. This position will support the work of both offices but will be supervised by the CCI Data and Evaluation Manager.

CCI supports Health Councils in all 95 counties across Tennessee. Our office aims to strengthen the impact of Health Councils in improving community health and addressing health disparities. We support Health Councils in several project areas: Data and Evaluation, Health Assessment and Planning, Community of Practice, Tennessee Vitality Toolkit, and Community Development. This position will primarily support CCI’s Data and Evaluation program.

This position will also support the Director of the Office of Strategic Planning. This office is responsible for the planning, implementation, communication, and evaluation of key departmental priorities.

Responsibilities:

• Assist with the development, implementation, and reporting of the biannual County Health Council Assessment.

• Assist with the research, development, design, and publication of County Data Packages.

• Assist with other projects that support capacity-building of Health Councils, including but not limited to the in-person Community of Practice Spring Summits.

• Support the facilitation, coordination, and documentation of activities involved in developing a large-scale departmental strategic plan. 

• Collect, analyze, and synthesize data to inform strategic planning, decision-making, and progress monitoring. 

• Prepare visuals related to strategic planning priorities.  

• Some travel required for strategic planning facilitation, divisional meetings, Health Council gatherings, and other events as needed.

• This is a hybrid position, reporting in-person to TDH Central Office in Nashville at least 1 day per week.
  

Qualifications:

• Graduation from an accredited program in public health or health-related field within the last twelve months and prior to the start of the Fellowship (November).
• Master’s Degree in public health, social sciences, public policy, or related field.

• Advanced proficiency in Microsoft Office programs, especially Excel.

• Strong skills in qualitative and quantitative data collection, analysis, interpretation, and communication.  

• Experience with survey development, experience in REDCap and Tableau preferred but not required

• Experience creating dashboards, reports, presentations, maps, data visualizations, or other communication tools.  

• Understanding of basic strategic planning principles.  

• Excellent oral and written communication with diverse audiences, willingness and comfort level in presenting data and milestones. 

• Ability to facilitate meetings with a diverse audience.  

• Willingness to assist in administrative tasks and to plan, manage and report on project activities. 

• Excellent interpersonal, teamwork, and relationship-building skills.
  

Employment Details: State Employee, base salary of $48,204 with State of Tennessee benefits and with the potential of an increase in salary if offered a second year

Description of Program Area:

The Office of Health Planning is housed within the Division for Public Health Infrastructure and is responsible for the creation of the State Health Plan, oversight of the of the Certificate of Public Advantage, and the administration of the Joint Annual Reports. The State Health Plan serves as Tennessee’s state health improvement plan, contemplating the factors that determine health, considering the resources that can be utilized to improve health, and coordinating the people who lead the way in making Tennessee healthier. The State Health Plan is informed by the State of Health report, which serves as the statewide health assessment. The State of Health report overviews 100+ metrics to assess the health status of Tennesseans and support data-driven decision-making. The State of Health is updated annually and published in a report, data dashboards, and infographics.  

Responsibilities:

• Collect, clean and format data for the annual State of Health report. 

• Update and develop data dashboards for the State of Health.

• Update and develop infographics for the State of Health. 

• Assist with the implementation of the State Health Plan. 
  

Qualifications:

• Graduation from an accredited program in public health or health-related field within the last twelve months and prior to the start of the Fellowship (November).
• Master’s Degree in public health, social sciences, public policy, or related field (preferred, but not required).

• Attention to detail and strong organizational skills.

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

• Excellent interpersonal, teamwork, and relationship-building skills including the ability to work with remote and hybrid teams effectively.

• Intermediate level proficiency in MS Office and MS Excel, and Tableau. 
  

Employment Details: State Employee, base salary of $48,204 with State of Tennessee benefits and with the potential of an increase in salary if offered a second year