October 17, 2026
Dear [Hiring manager's name],
I lead outbreak investigations for a jurisdiction of 400,000 residents at Riverside County Department of Public Health, managing 8 to 10 active investigations at any given time. I'm applying for the Epidemiologist role at [Agency name] because your team's recent expansion into real-time syndromic surveillance is exactly the direction I want my own work to keep moving.
When a foodborne outbreak spread across three counties and reached 45 confirmed cases, I directed the response and traced the contaminated source within 72 hours, well inside the window that let us pull the product before it reached more shelves. I also rebuilt our disease surveillance dashboard, cutting reporting lag from five days to same-day across 12 reportable conditions.
I design case-control studies, including one with 600 participants that identified a risk factor now built into statewide screening guidance, and I run the statistical modeling behind it in SAS and R. I supervise two epidemiology technicians and coordinate directly with state and federal partners whenever an investigation crosses jurisdiction lines.
I'd welcome the chance to talk about the surveillance work underway at [Agency name] and where my outbreak response experience could contribute. I'm glad to meet at whatever time suits your team's schedule this month.
Respectfully,
Reese Wright, MPH
