At the California Department of
Public Health (CDPH), equity, diversity, and inclusion are at the core of our
mission to advance the health and well-being of California’s diverse people and
communities. We are genuinely and strongly committed to cultivating and
preserving a culture of inclusion and connectedness where we can grow and learn
together with a diverse team of employees. In recruiting for team members,
we welcome the unique contributions that you can bring to us and the work we
do.
This position supports the California Department of Public Health’s (CDPH) mission and strategic plan by leading CDPH’s wastewater surveillance program, overseeing programmatic development, supporting infectious disease subject matter experts and prevention and control programs, leading epidemiologic data analyses, interpretation, and reporting, and developing the use and integration of wastewater surveillance for infectious disease monitoring and public health action in California.
The Public Health Medical Officer III (PHMO III) Supervisory (Sup), Chief of the Surveillance Section, leads the wastewater surveillance program at CDPH, in alignment with CDPH priorities and under the direction of the Public Health Administrator I (Branch Chief). The CDPH Wastewater Surveillance (WWS) program, a national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Center of Excellence, conducts wastewater testing at sites across California for multiple infectious diseases including COVID-19, influenza, mpox, and norovirus. The WWS program also supports CDPH’s response and preparedness for outbreaks and emerging infectious diseases of public health concern such as H5 bird flu and measles.
The PHMO III Sup will oversee the WWS program’s priorities, manage grants and budgets, coordinate with the CDPH wastewater analysis laboratory, and supervise doctoral and master’s level research and data scientists. The WWS team conducts advanced epidemiological analyses, modeling, and data management, and produces summary reports, dashboards, and interpretations in support of local health departments and CDPH disease programs as well as outbreak and emergency response efforts. The PHMO III Sup collaborates closely with several multidisciplinary CDPH communicable disease and emergency preparedness teams as well as other internal and external partners, including academic researchers, local health departments, wastewater utilities, and the CDC, advancing wastewater surveillance as a public health tool and to further public health and CDPH’s strategic mission. The PHMO III Sup represents the surveillance section and provides programmatic and subject matter expert consultation across the Center for Infectious Diseases and external partners, collaborating with national, state, and local programs.
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