Marieh Scales

How have you contributed to one of CDC’s priorities through your ASPPH/CDC Fellowship assignment? Explain what you have done that has “made a difference” at CDC and benefitted public health in the United States.

One priority of the CDC is the Data Modernization Initiative, which is a comprehensive strategy to modernize, technology, data, and the workforce at the CDC. As a fellow supporting the Informatics Workforce Development Team, the Team has received significant funding from the Data Modernization Initiative. I have specifically provided support to my team by writing SOPs, developing process maps, and developing a team operational tracker to document and streamline team processes and endeavors. These contributions have allowed the team to identify areas for operational improvement and respond to data calls.

How will your fellowship experience shape your career?

I envision myself being an implementation scientist when I grow up—being in the position to take innovations that have proven efficient in the clinical trial phase and scaling them out to our population to improve population health needs. With the two fellowship programs I provide support, they have received significant funding to improve data science and informatics skills and capacity across the CDC. With the increased funding, I am witnessing how the fellowships are being scaled up to include more fellows and host sites. Providing support during the scale up of these programs will provide applied implementation experience that will lend itself as a useful experience/case study when I begin my doctoral studies.

Describe specifically some of the relationships/partnerships you have built through the fellowship and how those relationships have helped/will help you in your career.

During my fellowship, I have conducted informational interviews with various FTE’s at the CDC who work in the maternal and child health space or the implementation science space. Learning about their career paths and what mid to senior level careers looks like in my fields of interest were helpful to solidifying my future academic and career goals.