Medical students

UC Davis School of Medicine Environmental Health Sciences Dean's Fellowship

Where Clinical Expertise Meets Environmental Health: A Fellowship for UC Davis or UC Davis Health faculty Ready to Expand Their Research Horizons

The UC Davis EHSC/School of Medicine Dean's Fellowship is a unique opportunity for junior to mid-career faculty to launch a new dimension of their research career. Established through a partnership between the UC Davis EHSC and the School of Medicine, the fellowship bridges clinical expertise with environmental health science — an intersection with enormous potential to advance our understanding of how environmental exposures shape human health. Fellows receive meaningful financial support, dedicated mentorship, and access to EHSC resources to help build an independent, multidisciplinary research program that can open doors for the next generation of environmental health clinician-scientists.
Apply Now

2026 School of Medicine Dean’s Fellowship in Environmental Health Sciences

Program Overview

Environmental exposures influence a wide range of health conditions affecting virtually every organ of the body. This underscores the critical need for new interdisciplinary collaborations involving clinicians and environmental health researchers. To that end, the School of Medicine (SOM) Dean’s Office and the NIEHS-funded UC Davis Environmental Health Sciences Center (EHSC) are pleased to announce our 2026-2027 competition for the Dean’s Fellowship in Environmental Health Sciences.

A major strategic initiative of the EHSC (https://environmentalhealth.ucdavis.edu) is to recruit investigators new to EHS (Environmental Health Sciences) who bring expertise, innovative approaches, or technology that can be applied to expand EHS research at UC Davis, and especially the UC Davis SOM, and open up new opportunities within the EHSC to grow the cadre of environmental health researchers at UCD.

SOM Dean’s Fellowship

The Dean’s Fellowship in Environmental Health Sciences is a unique opportunity for promising junior to mid-career faculty (UC Davis or UC Davis Health) to accelerate their career development as independent multi-disciplinary researchers and academic leaders and to create a path for others to follow in the area of EHS.

Fellowship proposals should include a research project that will lead to novel and impactful health improvement; an outline for establishment of infrastructure (e.g., development of guidelines, training and/or mentoring tools) and a description of mentoring support as well as a training and career plan. The multi-disciplinary plans are expected to leverage the powerful resources and proven collaborations between UC Davis Health interdisciplinary data sciences and our comprehensive university, including engineering, veterinary medicine, biological or environmental sciences.

The Dean’s Fellow will be provided with supporting resources, including up to $35,000 per year to cover partial salary support and benefits for 1 or 2 years. This year we are soliciting applications for a Dean’s Fellow position beginning October 19, 2026.

Eligibility Criteria

To be considered eligible, the applicant must be:

  1. A current or prospective junior to mid-career faculty member in the UC Davis SOM or UC Davis Main Campus with an interest in understanding the role of environmental health factors in disease or disability and developing interventions or promoting translation into policies or practices that can reduce harmful exposures or mitigate their impacts on health. Applicants can also refer to the current strategic plan of the NIEHS (https://www.niehs.nih.gov/about/strategicplan) and 
  2. A responsive candidate committed to an academic research path and motivated to utilize their clinical or research expertise to advance new methods, tools, and outcomes for the development of institutional infrastructure.

Important Dates 

September 8, 2026 

  • Deadline to submit a Fellowship Proposal via InfoReady. 
  • See Fellowship Proposal Instructions below for details.

October 19, 2026 

  • Fellowship begins. 
  • Within first month of program start date Mentorship Program Plan due.

Award Details

Each selected Dean’s Fellow will receive supporting resources, including up to $35,000 per year to cover partial salary support and benefits for 1 or 2 years. This includes funding for career development activities, formal mentoring, and priority access to the EHSC Cores.

The expectation is for milestone achievements relevant to EHSC including development of a NIEHS R01 or other award. Once a candidate has been selected, they will meet with Center leadership to develop a mentoring and career development plan.

Fellowship Proposal Instructions

EHS Dean’s Fellow applicants should submit the following documents in a single PDF file:

  1. NIH biosketch
  2. A 2-page personal statement describing your research interests, your research accomplishments, and why you are interested in the award
  3. A 3-page research project proposal describing the aims and methods, the projected impact and relevance to the EHSC, SOM, and NIEHS, and an outline for establishment of infrastructure, such as development of guidelines, training, and/or mentoring tools related to environmental health sciences
  4. Two letters of support, including one from the Department Chair, describing the candidate’s anticipated career trajectory.

Applications are due by September 8, 2026 via InfoReady. 

Apply Here

Selection Criteria

Selection criteria include:

  • Relevance of proposed environmental health research project that will lead to novel and impactful health
    improvement;
  • Multi-disciplinary plans;
  • Significance of the proposed research and robustness of approach/methods;
  • Past research achievements; and
  • Likelihood that this award will promote the candidate’s career and will lead to extramural funding in EHS-related research.

Areas of high priority include the impacts of air pollution, climate change, water contaminants and chemicals used in agriculture, foods and food packaging, household consumer goods and personal care products on health or human development, including but not limited to: respiratory conditions, cancer, neurodevelopment, neurodegenerative disease, and cardiovascular or metabolic disorders. Other areas of environmental health sciences are also welcome.

Special consideration will be given to individuals from underserved communities.

Contact Information 

Please direct any questions to Crystal Herrera ([email protected])