We sat down with Terrence Alexander, Data Scientist at PVM. His path from Memphis to the CDC — and now to PVM — reflects a career built on curiosity, resilience, and a commitment to public health. After five years supporting emergency preparedness, pandemic response, and data modernization efforts at the CDC, Terrence now brings his self-taught expertise in data science, Power BI, and Foundry to PVM’s mission-driven work.
Can you tell me a bit about your background?
I’m originally from Memphis, Tennessee and I take pride in that. Memphis is a major city, but it has its issues, and I feel like being able to get out of there and start a new life somewhere else is a huge success.
I live in Atlanta with my wife. We moved here in 2018, shortly after we got married, for grad school. She’s a lawyer, and I went to Morehouse School of Medicine to get my master’s degree in public health.
As far as professional experience, I got into public health while I was in graduate school. I started my time at CDC as a student worker participating in one of their research programs. I helped analyze data and was also listed on a paper.
Can you expand on your experience with the CDC?
Starting at CDC as a student worker helped me transition into a fellowship program with CDC after graduation. I officially started working as an ORISE Fellow in 2020, right in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The first two years of my five-year fellowship, I was in preparedness and response work. There, I learned CDC’s processes to prepare for and respond to public health emergencies. During that time, I also served in pandemic response as a COVID-19 data analyst. That’s where I got my start in data and statistical software.
For the last three years of my fellowship, I switched over to an informatics, data science, and engineering role. I built dashboards, automated certain processes, and started developing in Foundry. I built a few different applications and worked on modernizing systems at CDC. Everything I know about developing in Foundry was self-taught and learned through my experience there. I’m really grateful for it and wouldn’t change it for the world.
Can you expand on your experience with the CDC?
Yes! One of the main dashboards I worked on is called BEAM.
It stands for Bacteria, Enterics, Amoeba, and Mycotics. It’s an interactive tool to access and visualize data that track enteric, bacterial, viral, and parasitic agents, and other foodborne, waterborne, and fungal diseases. It was a big hit at the center — specifically in the division I worked in.
It was first developed by another informatics fellow, and when I came on, it was still early in its life, but now there are several different pages. I’m responsible for three of them — the Vibriosis Surveillance, Salmonella Serotypes of Concern, and Data Behind the Scenes: Salmonella Serotypes of Concern.
That project really helped me develop my Power BI skills. That was my first experience with true data engineering. I became a whiz with Power BI and really appreciated that opportunity.
As a Data Scientist at PVM, what does your day to day look like? How does your CDC experience support your role now?
Usually, my day starts with a cup of coffee. I spend my mornings coding, developing, researching, or training. Around midday, we have a lot of meetings — mostly because some of our leadership is on the West Coast, and I’m in Atlanta.
In the afternoons, I usually have working sessions, either solo or in a group. Recently, I’ve been working on an internal initiative in collaboration with with Marshai. I’ve learned some things and implemented others from my previous experience, which has been really cool.
We have engineering office hours where I’ve gotten to meet other engineers and see their work. I really appreciate that time — it’s a good forum to talk and discuss ideas.
Because I live in Atlanta, I also go to the CDC campus twice a week. I go in for in-person meetings with clients and contacts. It’s a great way to demo things, ask questions, and build those personal relationships. It’s really helpful for having a good working relationship with the client. I’m happy that I can navigate that space and be part of maintaining that connection.
It helps get things done, too, because I already know how the client thinks and what they want. We can have straightforward conversations that cut through the fluff and get right to what’s needed.
What stood out about PVM and made you excited to work here?
When I was thinking about rolling off my fellowship and moving to another position, I discovered PVM, and did some research — I liked what I found. Pat, the CEO, stood out immediately — he’s personable and approachable. I’m the same way, so that resonated with me. I liked that PVM is a smaller, progressive company focused on AI and innovation.
And the benefits are great — the health insurance, unlimited PTO (I’d never heard of that before!), and the flexibility to work from home all make it a great fit for me and my lifestyle.
What are you most looking forward to in your role at PVM?
I think I’m in a unique situation with my prior relationship with CDC. I’m looking forward to helping build that relationship even more — maybe even expanding to other divisions or centers.
I’m also looking forward to developing my skills further in Foundry. It’s such a great, all-in-one platform where you can do just about anything. I’m learning new things every day and finding better ways to streamline workflows.
Overall, I’m excited to keep learning, grow as a data scientist and engineer, and help the company however I can.
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The PVM Team
