HHMI Medical Research Fellows Program

Medical, dental, and veterinary students are in a unique position to advance biomedical research and translate findings from the lab into the treatment of disease. The HHMI Medical Fellows Program gives these students a chance to focus on a research project full-time and determine how they can incorporate research into their professional careers.

Established in 1989, the Medical Research Fellows Program aims to strengthen and expand the nation’s pool of physician-scientists, dentist-scientists, and veterinarian-scientists. More than 1,400 students have participated in the program, which allows students to choose their own mentor; develop a basic, translational, or applied research project; and conduct full-time research for one full year.

• A year-long program in which fellows conduct research at an academic or nonprofit institution in the United States, except the National Institutes of Health, at HHMI's Janelia Farm Research Campus, or at the KwaZulu-Natal Research Institute for Tuberculosis and HIV (K-RITH) in Durban, South Africa.

Fellowship begins

HHMI offers two options for medical, dental, and veterinary students to engage in research training:

• A summer program that offers students the opportunity to do research in the laboratory of an HHMI investigator, early career scientist, HHMI professor, or Janelia researcher. 

Students must be in good standing at a medical, dental, or veterinary school located in the United States.

U.S. citizenship is not required, but students must be eligible to work with an appropriate visa.

Students cannot be enrolled in a combined medical, dental, or veterinary/PhD program (e.g., MD/PhD) or PhD, or ScD program, or have a PhD or ScD in a laboratory-based biological science.