Postdoctoral Training Program in the Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications of Genetics and Genomics (Summer 2026)

Postdoctoral Training Program in the Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications of Genetics and Genomics (Summer 2026)

University of Pennsylvania: Perelman School of Medicine: Perelman School of Medicine - Medical Ethics and Health Policy

Location: Philadelphia, PA
Open Date: Oct 21, 2025
Deadline: Dec 10, 2025 at 11:59 PM Eastern Time

Description
The mission of the 3-year Penn Postdoctoral Training Program in the Ethical, Legal and Social Implications (ELSI) of Genetics and Genomics, supported by a training grant from the National Human Genome Research Institute, is to prepare junior scholars for success as creative, independent investigators in the field of ELSI research. Fellows will participate fully in the life of the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, which is among the world's leading bioethics departments, and will engage with the outstanding genetic medicine, science, and ELSI communities at Penn. Fellows will receive a generous annual stipend, benefits, and funds for academic books and travel. When appropriate to their prior training and career goals, ELSI fellows may pursue a Master of Science in Medical Ethics to prepare them to compete for external funding in ELSI research. Steven Joffe, MD, MPH directs the Fellowship.

Qualifications
Applications are invited from scholars with doctoral degrees in hand (MDs, PhDs or equivalent), or who will receive such degrees by the summer of the year in which they apply to the fellowship. Doctorates may be in any relevant field, including but not limited to the life sciences, philosophy, political science, psychology, sociology, economics or anthropology. Prior experience in bioethics is not required. In addition, applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents.

Application Instructions
Personal statement (up to 1500 words). In your statement, please be sure to tell us about:
the research question(s) you hope to pursue as a postdoc
your ultimate academic or career goals and why/how this fellowship at Penn will help you advance these goals
which specific Penn faculty might be ideal mentors for you and why
how you anticipate that the community at Penn will help shape your perspective as you advance in your work and how your experiences and perspective will help shape the university, department, and fellowship communities.
CV
Writing Sample (published or unpublished for which you were the lead or solo author. Maximum 6 journal pages or 15 manuscript pages)
2 letters of recommendation. For clinicians in training: a 3rd letter of recommendation from your program director which includes a statement that at least 75% of your time will be protected for your ELSI fellowship activities.

For additional information, please contact:

Emily Walters
Administrative Coordinator
[email protected]

Note: Fellows participating in this program incur a payback requirement. After completing the first year of the program, fellows must spend a year pursuing health-related research, teaching or service in order to fulfill this requirement. Completion of the second year of the program is adequate to fulfill the payback requirement.

University policy states that any individual's cumulative post-doc experience should not exceed five years total; therefore, individuals who will have completed more than 2 years as a post-doc prior to their anticipated start date in this program are not eligible.

Please apply: