POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWSHIP IN GLOBAL TOBACCO RESEARCH
The primary goal of this program is to provide training in tobacco control science and policy.
Fellows will spend 15-18 months in the United States (Atlanta, GA) and the last 6-9 months at a host institution in their home country.
Program Overview
As smoking rates decline in developed countries, it is natural for tobacco control efforts to refocus on low- and middle-income countries that are often short on resources and formally trained tobacco control personnel. The Postdoctoral Fellowship in Global Tobacco Research is offered by Georgia State University’s School of Public Health and the CDC Foundation to provide formal training for postdoctoral fellows who can contribute to tobacco control research and build the tobacco control workforce in low- and middle-income countries.
Over the next three years, six postdoctoral fellows will be trained from low- and middle-income countries. The primary goal of this program is to provide training in tobacco control science and policy so that the candidates can return to their native countries and be leaders in their country’s tobacco control efforts, including expanding tobacco control workforce capacity. In the two-year training program, fellows will spend 15-18 months in the United States (Atlanta, GA) and the last 6-9 months at a host institution in their home country.
Program Location
The School of Public Health at Georgia State University is an ideal place to train future global tobacco control leaders. As a premier urban Doctoral/Research Extensive University, Georgia State University has been consistently ranked for the past several years in the top three for innovation and commitment to undergraduate teaching among US schools. Georgia State also is a minority-serving institution that is first nationwide among non-profit institutions for graduating African American students.
The School of Public Health has been exceptionally successful in training international professionals, having hosted over eighty-five Fulbright students since 2006 and training ten postdoctoral fellows (six international) in tobacco research since 2015. The School of Public Health has also managed professional exchange programs with China, having hosted visiting fellows from the Chengdu CDC and Qingdao Health Department.
The School of Public Health has seven faculty who have or are currently serving in leadership roles in tobacco control with the CDC, WHO, FDA, non-profit organizations, and local governments. All of them are PIs on NIH, CDC, and foundation tobacco control research grants, which will provide research opportunities for the fellows. All of the faculty have extensive mentorship experience, including training postdoctoral fellows.
During the Postdoctoral Training Program, Georgia State University and the CDC Foundation will work together to prioritize and name various tracks of tobacco control research that are considered priorities of the CDC Foundation, in line with the faculty expertise at Georgia State, of interest to the postdoctoral candidates, and meet a tobacco control need in each fellow’s home country.
PROPOSED TRACKS INCLUDE:
- Economics and taxation
- Nicotine and emerging tobacco products
- Tobacco regulatory science
- Leveraging technology to promote cessation
- Novel methods and data science for tobacco control (i.e. novel surveillance, artificial intelligence, modeling, data interpretation)
Program Application
APPLICATION DEADLINES
At this time, we are not accepting applications for the postdoctoral fellowship. If a new round opens up, we will post the application instructions here.
Current Global Fellows
Di Pei, Ph.D.
China
Former US-Based Fellows Trained at Georgia State
in Tobacco Control
Yachao Li, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Communication
Public Health
The College of New Jersey
Bo Yang, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Communication
The University of Arizona
Hue Duong, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Communication
Georgia State University
Zachary Massey, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Journalism
University of Missouri
Daniel Owusu, DrPH
Senior Service Fellow
Research Epidemiologist
CDC
Reed Reynolds, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Communication Department
University of Massachusetts, Boston
Bai Cham, Ph.D.
Shafiun Shimul, Ph.D.
Thi Phuong Thao Tran, Ph.D.
George Bakhturidze, Ph.D.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
A: In many countries an MD (or DDS) degree is an undergraduate (Bachelor's level) degree that is granted after 4-6 years of studies. This is not a postgraduate degree that is required for this program. If you received your MD as your first degree, then it's an undergraduate degree, and does not qualify for the postdoctoral program. Similarly, having an undergraduate MD and a Master's degree is not equivalent to a postgraduate degree (e.g., PhD) required for this program.
Training
The training program will combine rigorous didactic coursework and mentored research in the US that will enable the trainees to develop skills and knowledge in tobacco control, policy, research methods, and grant writing, ultimately allowing them to obtain high-impact academic, governmental, or civil society positions. The trainee will be working with a primary mentor (one of Georgia State seven faculty who have or are currently serving in leadership roles in tobacco control with the CDC, WHO, FDA, non-profit organizations, and local governments) and will receive additional mentorship from the collaborators at the CDC Foundation, the CDC, and other organizations. For the home country portion of the training, the fellows will be placed in a local university, governmental, or civil society organization in their home country. Each fellow with work with their mentors to develop an Individual Development Plan in the area of their interest and in a track that meets a tobacco control need in their home country. Some example tracks are:
- Economics and taxation
- Nicotine and emerging tobacco products
- Tobacco regulatory science
- Global tobacco surveillance
- Leveraging technology to promote cessation
- Novel methods and data science for tobacco control (i.e. novel surveillance, artificial intelligence, modeling, data interpretation)
Benefits
The fellows will receive an annual stipend ($53,000-$58,000, commensurate with experience) throughout the full duration of the program, with full benefits including health, dental, and other insurance options. The program will cover relocation expenses for the fellow from and to their home country, travel funds to attend research conferences, and research funds to purchase computers, software, and to cover additional research expenses, as a well as a honorarium to a home country mentor.
