The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholars program enhances and broadens the intellectual perspectives that scholars bring from their original disciplines.Each year the program enables up to 18 outstanding individuals who have completed their doctoral training to engage in an intensive two-year program at one of six nationally prominent universities. Training activities at the participating universities are intentionally flexible to meet the diverse backgrounds, interests and needs of individual scholars. Specific offerings vary by site, but include two years of intensive seminars, mentored research and focused training in the skills necessary for effective leadership, program implementation and policy change. Scholar-directed research and analysis conducted with the guidance or collaboration of distinguished faculty mentors are major elements of the program at all sites.
Scholars become familiar with various means of assessing the broad range of factors that influence health, as well as measurement issues related to population health. Scholars study interactions among context, behavior and biology across the life span, and learn to think creatively about the intersections among different disciplines by considering dynamic time processes, inference and causality, and multilevel analytic techniques. Training may include learning about: various approaches to program design, implementation and evaluation; the effective communication of knowledge to decision-makers and opinion leaders in multiple sectors; models of behavior change; methods of determining cost-effectiveness; and evaluation of complex multilevel interventions.
The curriculum will foster cross-disciplinary thinking and dialogue, as scholars and faculty from different disciplines explore contributing risk factors, interactions among contextual forces, behavioral predispositions, biological susceptibility, developmental timing and influences, and approaches to intervention. The program thus expands the intellectual scope, collaborative competence, shared language and scientific creativity of both scholars and faculty.
The program gives graduates the tools they need to create new knowledge and generate interventions to improve population health. It is anticipated that graduates of the program will be sought after for leadership positions in academic, government and other policy settings.
Scholars are expected to concentrate their intellectual energies on program-related activities and research. They should not pursue other degrees during the program period, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health & Society Scholars program will not provide tuition support for any degree program. Scholars must be in residence at the site throughout the program period.
Awards and use of Foundation funds
Up to 18 scholars will be selected for two-year appointments to begin in fall of 2008. Grants have been made to the six participating universities in accordance with RWJF's regular funding guidelines. Scholars will have access to a full range of university resources and will receive annual stipend support of $83,000 in year one and $86,000 in year two, plus health insurance from their university site. Scholars additionally will have access to financial support for research-related expenses, training workshops and travel to professional meetings.
