ORISE Fellowship at FDA Center for Food Safety and Nutrition

Project Description
 
A research project is available in the Office of Food Additive Safety (OFAS)/Division of Biotechnology and GRAS Notice Review (DBGNR), within the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition (CFSAN) at the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in College Park, Maryland starting in September, 2018.

OFAS/DBGNR is initiating a research project to advance the understanding of reducing sodium in foods as well as to establish a monitoring plan for foods and nutrients in the United States. This development assignment involves searching scientific literature, public information websites, and databases, organizing data, performing quality control of data, developing and documenting methodology, utilizing quantitative skills, answering various questions through analysis of data, and providing summary reports. The audience for this research includes the FDA scientists, policy makers, food technology professionals, and regulated industry.

Responsibilities
The candidate will receive training on public policy initiatives, working with various databases, and performing research and review of different types of scientific information. The candidate will learn how to organize, manage, analyze, and perform quality control on data, summarize findings of analyses, and develop various reports. The candidate may learn how to write summary memoranda or other publications that document the research, methodology, and conclusions resulting from the review of the information as well as how to respond to public questions.

Requirements
The candidate should possess the following skills and have experience in the following areas:
- Critical thinking and problem-solving skills
- Interpersonal skills and able to work in team environment and independently
- Written and verbal communication skills
- Working with large databases
- Using quantitative skills
- Performing data analysis
- Organizing and managing data
- Performing quality control of data
- Developing and documenting methodologies
- Providing summary reports
- Experience with SAS, R, and/or SQL (preferred)
- Knowledge of foods

The candidate should have obtained, within the last 3 years, a bachelor’s or master’s degree in a related scientific field (e.g. epidemiology, nutritional epidemiology, nutritional biochemistry, data analytics, informatics, public health, health policy, food science or technology, nutrition, etc.).

Contact Information
Interested candidates may ask questions and send resumes to:
Kasey Heintz, MS
Kasey.heintz@fda.hhs.gov
240-402- 1376