HOPE, Radcliffe signal Harvard research tilt

The Harvard-Oxford Program in Epidemiology (HOPE), launched in 2024 at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, named five undergraduate fellows on May 13, 2026, for its third cohort. Harvard junior Elena Vasquez will study maternal health disparities in U.S. immigrant communities under Oxford mentor Dr. Olivia Lau. Princeton sophomore transfer Marcus Chen joins to analyze climate impacts on respiratory disease patterns with Harvard's Dr. Goodarz Danaei. Two other Harvard undergrads, sophomore Lila Patel and senior Javier Ruiz, round out the group. Patel focuses on vaccine hesitancy in rural India paired with Oxford's Dr. Marc Choisy; Ruiz examines long COVID outcomes in elderly populations with Harvard epidemiologist Dr. Bernardo Laks. Program director Dr. Sonia Hernández-Díaz said the selections prioritize "term-time feasible projects that build undergrad skills in population health analysis". HOPE pairs each fellow with mentors from Harvard's epidemiology department and Oxford's Nuffield Department of Population Health. Fellows receive $10,000 stipends plus travel to Oxford for a one-week summer institute in July 2026. ### What makes HOPE projects undergrad-friendly? HOPE targets epidemiology research that undergraduates can pursue during the academic term without lab access or multi-year commitments. Vasquez's project, for instance, uses publicly available CDC birth records and Oxford migration datasets analyzed via R software—no wet lab required. Chen's climate work draws on WHO respiratory data and NOAA models, fitting into 10-15 hours weekly around classes. Dr. Hernández-Díaz noted in the announcement that these designs make projects "explainable to mentors, fundable by undergraduate research offices, and publishable within a year." Past HOPE cohorts produced three first-author papers in journals like Epidemiology and The Lancet Public Health by May 2026. The program caps cohorts at five to ensure close supervision. Applications for 2027 open November 1, 2026. ### Which Radcliffe fellows focus on epidemiology and health? Harvard's Radcliffe Institute named 48 fellows for its 2026-27 class on May 14, 2026, including seven with projects in population health and translational epidemiology. Radcliffe fellow Dr. Amina Khan, an outcomes researcher from Johns Hopkins, will use Harvard datasets to model U.S. opioid prescribing patterns post-2022 reforms. Two Harvard Medical School affiliates join: Dr. Raj Patel on AI-driven prediction of diabetes complications in South Asian populations, and Dr. Elena Torres on equity gaps in cancer screening access. Undergrad-accessible projects include Radcliffe undergraduate fellow Mia Lin's analysis of mental health outcomes in post-pandemic college students, drawing on Harvard's anonymous student surveys. Radcliffe provides fellows with $82,000 stipends, offices at Byerly Hall, and access to 16 Harvard libraries. Director Dr. Tomiko Brown-Nagin highlighted the class's emphasis on "interdisciplinary work addressing urgent public health challenges". ### How do HOPE and Radcliffe connect? Both programs emphasize epidemiology and population health projects that leverage Harvard's data resources for quick-turnaround undergrad research. HOPE's May 13 announcement preceded Radcliffe's by one day, with overlapping themes: three of five HOPE projects mirror Radcliffe fellows' focuses on health disparities and outcomes (; ). HOPE undergrads gain mentorship access to Radcliffe fellows like Dr. Khan, who will guest lecture in the program's fall seminar series. Radcliffe's interdisciplinary model funds 20% of its slots for science projects explainable to non-experts, aligning with HOPE's term-time constraints. Dr. Hernández-Díaz told the program's newsletter that such synergies "signal Harvard's strategic push toward scalable undergrad research in translational epidemiology." ### Why prioritize these research areas now? Harvard's emphasis stems from federal funding trends: NIH awarded $1.2 billion for population health epidemiology in fiscal 2025, up 18% from 2024, favoring undergrad-involved projects. HOPE and Radcliffe projects use de-identified datasets, sidestepping IRB delays that plague bench science. Undergrad research offices at Harvard funded 1,200 term-time projects in 2025-26, with 40% in health analytics—double humanities shares—per internal reports cited in HOPE materials. Radcliffe Dean Brown-Nagin said the cohort reflects "Harvard's resources uniquely suited to data-driven health equity work." ### What's next for the fellows? HOPE fellows start their projects September 1, 2026, with weekly meetings at Harvard's Kresge Building. They present interim findings at Oxford's epidemiology symposium on March 15, 2027. Radcliffe's 48 fellows arrive for orientation September 8, 2026, followed by a public welcome event September 17. Full project descriptions and fellowship application details appear on Radcliffe's site by June 1, 2026. ```