Deadline: December 21, 2026
Applications are open for the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) Fellowship 2027. The GBD Fellowship is an early-career, cohort-based postdoctoral training program at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington in Seattle. It is built for researchers who want careers in health metrics and who want to build them by contributing directly to GBD, the most comprehensive effort to measure health loss and its causes worldwide.
Fellows work within GBD’s established research areas and priorities. They train in GBD methods, rotate across IHME research teams, and contribute to the production of GBD estimates and related scientific publications. Within that scope, fellows are encouraged to take ownership of their analyses and lead methodological improvements.
The Fellowship is two years in length, with potential for a third-year extension. Fellows spend their first year learning GBD in depth and settling into IHME’s research teams. In their second year, they work more independently, take ownership of their analyses, and help improve how GBD estimates are made, all while preparing for their next career step. Renewal is annual and depends on performance and available funding.
Program Components
The GBD Fellowship program includes a number of education and training components to help Fellows build new skills and knowledge in GBD and health metrics research, cultivate social networks, and advance professional development and growth. Some education components are:
- Boot Camp: Fellows will participate in an intensive 4–6-week training camp taught by IHME faculty designed to familiarize them with IHME’s research projects, statistical packages and methods, and current health metrics challenges.
- Journal Club: Journal Club is a monthly opportunity for Fellows to gather and discuss a current article about an issue in health metrics research.
- Seminar Presentations: Fellows present their work and receive feedback from IHME researchers and faculty.
- Training: Fellows will have the opportunity to participate in short courses on a variety of health metrics topics throughout the program. Training focus areas include GBD methods, analyzing and interpreting GBD results, software coding and development, and health metrics theory.
- Mentorship: Fellows will receive mentorship from IHME faculty and senior researchers who will invest in their professional, personal, and career development and unlock their potential to perform, learn, and achieve.
Benefits
Fellows will have access to a generous benefits package, including medical, dental, and vision coverage, paid holidays, ample vacation and sick leave, retirement plans, transportation and fitness perks, tuition exemption, and more.
Salary Schedule:
- Year one – $105,000 (USD), or $8,750 per month
- Year two – $108,156, or $9,013 per month
- Year three – $112,488, or $9,374 per month
Eligibility
- Candidates must hold a PhD, MD, DPhil, or foreign equivalent. Current doctoral students may apply but must complete their degree before the September 2027 start date.
- Degrees must have a strong foundation in quantitative methods, which may be from a wide range of disciplines including epidemiology, demography, biostatistics, medical sciences, health policy, economics, mathematics, computer science, statistics, and other related fields.
- Candidates must have research experience, especially with data analysis and statistical methods, and strong programming skills in R or Python.
- Candidates must be no more than five years past their most recent degree as of the start date.
- Candidates must have no more than three years of prior postdoctoral experience by the start date. (UW limits total postdoctoral appointments to five years, including time at other institutions.)
- Working familiarity with GBD concepts and terms (e.g., DALYs, YLLs, YLDs, attributable burden, age-standardized rates, and uncertainty intervals) is expected. New to GBD? Start at the GBD Learning Center: healthdata.org/research-analysis/gbd/learning.
- The fellowship is full-time and in person in Seattle; it is not remote or hybrid. Fellows may not be enrolled in another program or hold another position.
- International applicants are welcome. The University of Washington sponsors visas for this position. Fellows must be able to obtain a visa and be onsite by the first day of the fellowship.
Application
Your application includes:
- CV
- Responses to four short-essay questions: your research (max 300 words), your contribution to GBD (max 200 words), production work (max 200 words), and why this fellowship, now (max 250 words). Full prompts and instructions are on the application page.
- Three professional or academic references. List names and contact details only; letters are not required at the application stage. They will contact references if you advance to interviews.
For more information, visit GBD Fellowship.
