Summer Fellowship Program in Infectious Diseases

Program Description 

The Division of Infectious Diseases at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Harvard Medical School and the Harvard University Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) invites applicants to a 10-week summer fellowship program at Harvard University that provides mentoring in laboratory research, epidemiologic research, or clinical research in the field of infectious diseases. Eligible applicants are college students (rising sophomores - seniors) or college graduates taking a gap year (or gap years) who are intending to apply to medical school (or other postgraduate training in healthcare). Our goal is to help build bridges to careers in medicine, public health, and infectious disease research. The long-term goal of this program is to assist individuals who are from disadvantaged backgrounds (who have historically been excluded from careers in health and medicine) in building essential skills and supportive networks for their future careers. 

The Brigham and Women's Hospital Division of Infectious Diseases, in partnership with the Harvard CFAR, brings together a range of innovative clinical care, research, education, and training programs. Our Division and CFAR includes world-class experts in the diagnosis and treatment of infectious diseases, with a long history of innovation in research and clinical care. Our areas of focus include HIV/AIDS, COVID-19, transplantation and oncology-related infections, microbial pathogenesis, infectious disease epidemiology, hospital epidemiology, and global health. 

Key Components of the Mentored Fellowship Include:

• A specific research project, conducted under the supervision of a faculty mentor, with a presentation of this research project at the end of the fellowship program to the Division of Infectious Diseases faculty, trainees, and staff.
• Experiential and didactic learning through division meetings and educational sessions, including, but not limited to, journal club sessions, lectures, webinars, and guest presentations.
• Project and career mentoring through career development meetings.
• Longer-term mentor/mentee contact to support future career path.
• Potential shadowing experiences in other laboratories/research groups (beyond the primary mentored research experience) to obtain a more comprehensive sense of various methods and techniques used to answer scientific questions in infectious diseases.

Eligibility and Timelines: 

The summer fellowship program is best suited for college undergraduate students (rising sophomores - seniors) and college graduates taking a gap year (or gap years) prior to matriculation in a post-graduate program, with an interest in infectious diseases, medicine, global health, epidemiology, or health services research.

Quantitative coursework, skills, or experience are preferred, but not required. Prior research experience is not required, but applicants must be able to convey an interest in infectious diseases and articulate how this program will help them achieve their long-term career goals.

Only individuals who confirm that they are either first-generation students or from a disadvantaged background are eligible (per NIH definition, https://www.era.nih.gov/commons/disadvantaged_def.htm). Specifically, to be eligible you need to be:

EITHER

A first-generation college student. That is, you have/had no parents or legal guardians who completed a bachelor’s degree (see https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2018/2018009.pdf)

OR

Meet two or more of the following criteria for coming from a disadvantaged background:

1. Were or currently are homeless, as defined by the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (Definition: https://nche.ed.gov/mckinney-vento/)
2. Were or currently are in the foster care system, as defined by the Administration for Children and Families (Definition: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/cb/focus-areas/foster-care)
3. Were eligible for the Federal Free and Reduced Lunch Program for two or more years (Definition: https://www.fns.usda.gov/school-meals/income-eligibility-guidelines)
4. Have/had no parents or legal guardians who completed a bachelor’s degree (see https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2018/2018009.pdf)
5. Were or currently are eligible for Federal Pell grants (Definition: https://www2.ed.gov/programs/fpg/eligibility.html)
6. Received support from the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) as a parent or child (Definition: https://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/wic-eligibility-requirements)
7. Grew up in one of the following areas: a) a U.S. rural area, as designated by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) Rural Health Grants Eligibility Analyzer (https://data.hrsa.gov/tools/rural-health), or b) a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services-designated Low-Income and Health Professional Shortage Areas (qualifying zip codes are included in the file). Only one of the two possibilities in #7 can be used as a criterion for the disadvantaged background definition. 

Stipend

Participants of the program will receive a stipend for their participation in this summer research fellowship to help cover their costs of travel and of living for the 10-week period (June 9 - August 15, 2025). Housing will be provided for the duration of the BRIDGE program, generally at a local college campus (a private bedroom within a shared unit with a kitchen). Expenses exceeding this stipend cannot be covered by the program, unfortunately. Applicants are expected to complete the 10-week program in its entirety.

Application Deadline 

The application deadline for BRIDGE 2025 is Wednesday, April 23, 2025 at 8:00pm EST.