Posted on October 10, 2012

Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Awards $5.2 Million for International Clinical Research Fellowships

The Doris Duke Charitable Foundation has announced grants totaling $5.2 million to six U.S.-based institutions through its International Clinical Research Fellowships program.

The ICRF program seeks to encourage medical students at U.S. institutions to pursue clinical research careers by exposing them to research opportunities in developing countries. Starting next summer, the six institutions receiving grants will use the funding to offer three International Clinical Research Fellowships a year for the next four years to medical students interested in taking a year-long sabbatical from medical school to conduct clinical research abroad under the direction of a mentor.

Participating institutions include Duke University School of Medicine and the Duke Global Health Institute; Harvard Medical School; the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine; the University of Minnesota Medical School; the University of North Carolina School of Medicine; and the Yale School of Medicine.

"We look forward to working with these institutions to give medical students the unique opportunity to participate in an outstanding clinical research project in a low- or middle-income country," said Betsy Myers, program director for medical research at DDCF. "Our hope is that this experience will motivate students to become the next generation of doctors conducting research in global health."