About Harvard School of Public Health
The Harvard School of Public Health (hsph) is the direct descendent of the first professional public health training program in America. In contrast to medicine, which focuses on specific individuals and their treatment, the basic strategy of public health is to prevent disease in broad populations, an approach that is far reaching, efficient, and equitable.
The school has a celebrated history and global perspective. Working in over forty countries worldwide, members of the hsph faculty perform path-breaking research in such areas as hiv/aids, environmental hazards, reform of health systems, nutrition, genetic markers, health disparities, and the global burden of disease.
Located in the heart of the Harvard University Longwood campus, hsph adjoins Harvard Medical School and School of Dental Medicine, the Countway Library, and Harvard-affiliated hospitals such as Brigham and Women’s, the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Children’s Hospital.
About Yerby Postdoctoral Fellowship
The Yerby Postdoctoral Fellowship Program draws on the rich research environment and intellectual resources of one of the world’s premier public health training institutions. Named for Dr. Alonzo Smythe Yerby, an African-American pioneer in public health, this initiative is geared toward expanding the diversity of those entering academic public health. The program creates a bridge
between academic training in health-related disciplines and entry-level faculty positions at institutions throughout the United States.
The goal of the program is to advance the intellectual and professional development of each Yerby fellow. Under the guidance of a senior hsph faculty member with compatible interests, fellows develop their research agendas, gain experience in publishing papers in peer-reviewed journals and obtaining grant support, participate in a variety of professional development workshops, and increase their teaching expertise.
Yerby fellows receive a competitive salary with benefits for one year, renewable for a second year. Up to five new fellowships are awarded annually.
Areas of Training
Fellowship training is available throughout the broad range of the school’s activities—laboratory sciences, population sciences, and social and policy sciences. Fellows have a home within one of the school’s nine academic departments:
- Biostatistics
- Environmental Health
- Epidemiology
- Genetics and Complex Diseases
- Health Policy and Management
- Immunology and Infectious Diseases
- Nutrition
- Population and International Health
- Society, Human Development, and Health
Eligibility
Candidates for the Yerby Postdoctoral Fellowship Program must have a doctoral degree. To achieve the goal of increasing the diversity of academic public health, candidates must also be members of minority groups underrepresented in public health or first-generation college graduates.
Application Information
To qualify for consideration, applicants must submit a completed application that includes the following:
- Statement of professional objectives in academic public health, including a description of how these objectives would
be advanced by research opportunities at hsph - Proposal for research to be undertaken during the fellowship
- Curriculum vitae
- Three letters of recommendation
- Official doctoral transcripts
- Sample publication
In addition, applicants are welcome to suggest the names of faculty members with whom they might wish to be affiliated.
The application deadline is December 15 of each year. If December 15 falls on a weekend or holiday, the deadline is the next working day.
Please direct all inquiries to:
Betty Johnson, Director
Yerby Postdoctoral Fellowship Program
Harvard School of Public Health
Office of Faculty Affairs
677 Huntington Avenue, Kresge Room 1010
Boston, MA 02115
Email: bljohnso@hsph.harvard.edu
A complete listing of faculty research interests can be found at
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/faculty/
