Jeff received a Bachelor's of Science degree in Biochemistry in 1997 from the University of California, Davis and a Doctorate in Epidemiology in 2005 from the University of California, Davis. He also completed a two-year post doctoral applied epidemiology fellowship with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), National Center for Emerging and Zoonotic Infectious Diseases (NCEZID), Division of Global Migration and Quarantine (DGMQ) in San Diego, CA in 2007 before joining CDC as an epidemiologist. While with the CDC, Jeff worked on the prevention and control of communicable diseases along the U.S.-Mexico border. Before joining Oregon State University, he was an assistant professor of epidemiology at East Carolina University, Brody School of Medicine.