Fellowship in Health Disparities at UAlbany Open to SUNY Students

February 1, 2017

MEMORANDUM

To:   SUNY Campus Presidents and Chief Academic Officers

From:    Alexander N. Cartwright, Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor

Subject:  Fellowship Opportunity at UAlbany – Deadline 2/17/17

I am pleased to share some news about a prestigious Presidential Doctoral Fellowship for Research Training in Health Disparities that your campus’s undergraduate and masters students may pursue.

In Spring 2016, the National Institutes of Health awarded the University at Albany a $10 million health disparities endowment grant. A cornerstone of this historic award is the creation of a fellowship program for students from minority and underserved populations interested in pursuing doctoral degree studies in any field, while simultaneously receiving supplementary, transdisciplinary training in health disparities.

As you well know, one of the greatest national public health challenges facing our country today is the lack of scientists, healthcare professionals, and researchers from diverse backgrounds trained and working to understand and eliminate health disparities–a serious concern facing a number of campuses across SUNY as well.  The Presidential Doctoral Fellowship for Research Training in Health Disparities program based at UAlbany will go far to help close this gap, while fortifying our collective efforts throughout our SUNY family to enhance the recruitment of doctoral students from minority populations and underrepresented groups.

I am so pleased we can open the opportunity across campuses and write today to encourage you to promote and raise the visibility of the Presidential Doctoral Fellowship for Research Training in Health Disparities program to undergraduate and master-level students from diverse backgrounds across your campus community. This pioneering transdisciplinary training program will afford students with a wide-range of academic, research and experiential learning opportunities including:

  • Training through placements in research labs, community groups, NGOs, state/local health departments
  • Participation in a national conference on health disparities hosted by the University at Albany President
  • Engagement with local community health taskforces
  • Ph.D./doctoral degree in academic program spanning UAlbany’s offerings
  • Receipt of a Health Disparities Graduate Certificate
  • Mentoring by an experienced and trusted Ph.D. advisor, together with four (4) rotational mentors for experiential learning placements
  • Dedicated writing & statistical support
  • Rich engagement with junior and senior-level faculty in health disparities.
  • Part of a learning community which is home to one of the leading research and training hubs for health disparities in the northeastern United States.

At this time, the Presidential Doctoral Fellowship for Research Training in Health Disparities program is recruiting a wide range of high achieving, students from underrepresented groups from across the SUNY System.  By being named aPresidential Doctoral Fellow, a student will receive a broad array of financial benefits including full tuition and fees, $18,000 in compensation, a personal computer, travel support to national professional meetings, membership in health disparities related professional association(s), and more.

In order for students on your campus – both in-state and out-of-state – to apply to this distinguished doctoral level fellowship program, they must be well prepared for doctoral study and a member of a minority population or an underrepresented group.  If your campus has students interested in the Presidential Doctoral Fellowship for Research Training in Health Disparities, they must apply before the application deadline of February 21, 2017, and concurrently apply for admission into a UAlbany Ph.D./doctoral program starting in Fall 2017.

Please find below informational weblinks to the fellowship webpage, application, brochure, and flyer to share and help promote the Presidential Doctoral Fellowship for Research Training in Health Disparities program across your campus community:

Copy:    Vice Chancellor Wang

Vice Presidents for Research