People

Students!

In recent years, the Division's PhD programs have included approximately 600 graduate students, almost one-half of whom are women. As the total graduate student population has increased by about 50% since the 1980s, the number of students who are members of racial or ethnic groups under-represented in the sciences has increased at the same rate. The Division has usually had 60 to 70 such students in its programs. Current under-represented students in the Division's programs come from a variety of undergraduate institutions including for example:

Centre College (KY)
Clark Atlanta University (GA)
Hampton University (VA)
The University of Illinois
MIT (MA)
Northeastern University (MA)
Nebraska Wesleyan University
New Mexico State University
Rollins College (FL)
Santa Clara University (CA)
Southwestern Oklahoma State University
University of Notre Dame (IN)
Yale University (CT)
Washington University (MO)
Branches of the California State University and University of California system
Branches of the University of Texas system
Branches of the University of Puerto Rico

Are you interested in reading in more detail about graduate students' experiences at Harvard and in Boston?
Recent alumni and current students talk about the Division of Medical Sciences

Learn about some of the student groups particularly intended to meet the needs of under-represented students.

Graduates

From 2000 to the present, 86 under-represented individuals have earned their PhD degrees in Division programs. (This is about four times the average for comparable schools during the same time period.) About half are continuing in research training or in research careers at such institutions as Washington University, Stanford, the University of Michigan, the Centers for Disease Control, Harvard, Rockefeller, Scripps Research Foundation, or the University of Miami. A few are continuing research in industrial settings at places like Genentech, Pfizer, or Millennium Pharmaceuticals.

Several are completing MD/PhD training, or are in residency or fellowship training at such sites as the University of Washington, UCSF, Johns Hopkins, Harvard affiliated teaching hospitals, Northwestern, or Columbia University.

Others have entered careers in the fields of science writing, educational software engineering, science policy, consulting, and patent law.

Go to this page to meet recent graduates of the Division.

Faculty

Although there is a continuing need to increase further diversity among the faculty, there are several under-represented individuals holding clinical or research appointments at Harvard Medical School. Many of these individuals, and many of the majority faculty in the Division of Medical Sciences, are experienced mentors of minority MD or PhD students. Some of these faculty have also been effective advisors to minority high school and college students participating in special programs administered by Harvard-affiliated hospitals, the Harvard Medical School, and the Division of Medical Sciences.