Detroit (Maternal and Child Health Epidemiologist Intern)
City: Detroit, MI

Skill Area: Data Analysis and Monitoring

Internship summary
The Detroit Department of Health and Wellness Promotion (DHWP) is one of 45 local public health departments in the state of Michigan. The DHWP is client and community centered. As we service more than 200,000 individuals each year, we are committed to excellence and steadily improving to meet the health challenges faced by Detroiters. Our mission is to improve health and quality of life through the application of best practices in the delivery of public health services. The DHWP recently set forth new goals and health priorities through our Strategic Plan. In working to achieve these goals, we have partnered with civic, community, and academic institutions and local and national government organizations.

The Office of Health Information, Planning, Policy, Evaluation and Research (HIPPER) was established in the summer of 2007 to help improve the effectiveness and efficiency of DHWP’s practices and programs in accordance with priorities set forth in the Strategic Plan. This is being achieved by working in collaborative relationships with other DHWP programs, services, and units to provide statistical and epidemiological expertise and analyses; technical leadership to research initiatives and evaluation plans; and guidance in developing health information campaigns. HIPPER is responsible for the analysis and monitoring of health-related legislation as well as the development of health policy implications and recommendations. Furthermore, HIPPER supports the Strategic Planning process by providing regular team coaching services and developing quarterly Report Cards of the Implementation Committee. HIPPER is organized into six functional areas: epidemiology and statistics, health education and information, strategic planning, evaluation, policy analysis and advocacy, and research.

Purpose
Numerous studies have documented the harmful effects of lead exposure on infant and child cognitive, motor, and behavioral development. Additionally, some research has indicated that lead exposure during pregnancy may affect the development of the brain and central nervous system of the fetus and lead to other poor birth outcomes. The effect of childhood lead exposure of the mother on birth outcomes, however, is still not clearly understood. The purpose of this project, therefore, is to explore the effects of maternal childhood lead exposure on pregnancy outcomes.

Goals
The goal is to conduct an exploratory study that investigates the effects of maternal childhood lead exposure on future birth outcomes. This study will also meet a secondary goal to use cross-disciplinary data to inform and address preventable public health issues.

Objectives
(a) Identify birth outcomes and other adverse outcome variables to examine in the study; (b) Link childhood lead poisoning to birth record databases to identify matched sample data, (c) Provide descriptive analysis of key variables in the study dataset; (d) Analyze data using multivariate and regression statistical techniques (e) Compile and present the findings of the analysis and establish a plan to continue the research.

Data or analytic tasks and activities involved
The intern will use the STELLAR database, which is a comprehensive database containing all lead testing information for the City of Detroit, for the years 1990-1995 and the vital records (birth and infant death) databases for the years 1996-2007 to conduct a match looking for mothers who were lead tested as children (0-6 years of age). Some linkages that have been done in the past using the STELLAR database are blood lead testing data linked to academic school records and birth records. In these analyses we matched on name, date of birth, and address. We have also linked birth records to Healthy Start data matching on mother's name, dob, address, and SS#. The GSIP student will have the opportunity to link databases using MS ACCESS, SAS, and ARCVIEW, and will be well supervised by staff with experience conducting data linkages.

Next, the intern will conduct analysis looking to see if there is an association between lead exposure status and level of lead exposure as a child and certain birth outcomes. The analysis will be primarily exploratory and is open to interpretation by the intern.

Required data or analytic skills
The internship requires the student to be competent in the statistical software package SAS and the Microsoft applications Excel and Access. If the student is not familiar with Microsoft Access, however, the supervisor is willing to teach this application to the intern. The student must be able to conduct univariate and bivariate analysis, conduct and interpret t-test results, and more detailed multivariate analysis, such as multivariate modeling or logistic regression. If the student wishes to conduct additional analysis, this will be allowed provided there is enough time to complete this along with the student’s other responsibilities.

Begin date
05/17/2010

Public transportation available?
Depending on where the intern resides, the internship location is accessible via the public bus system. The bus fare is $1.50 per ride.