Health Equity Fellowship for Trainees (HEFT)

Health Equity Fellowship for Trainees (HEFT), Health Affairs

Location: United States

Health Affairs Publishing produces rigorous, nonpartisan research and analysis to improve health and health care. We distill complex health policy research into clear insights that inform today’s health care challenges and tomorrow's policy solutions.
Our flagship journal, Health Affairs, is the nation’s most read and influential health policy journal. Since its founding in 1981, the journal has published groundbreaking, peer-reviewed research at the intersection of health, health care, and policy.
Health Affairs Publishing is a subsidiary of Project HOPE, a nonprofit global health and humanitarian organization. As such, our recruitment is handled by our global Human Resources Team at Project HOPE.

Fellowship Description:
The Health Equity Fellowship for Trainees is a part of Health Affairs' national initiative to advance opportunities for all in health policy and health services scholarly publishing. The purpose of the Fellowship is to increase the quantity and quality of manuscripts published on the topic of health equity, while cultivating future health equity research leaders. Based on funding requirements, HEFT currently focuses on manuscripts dedicated to the topic of health equity along the dimensions of race and ethnicity. We hope to expand to other dimensions of equity in the future.
In the program, Fellows will receive multi-layered mentorship from experienced Health Affairs authors and editorial staff for 18 months (July 2026 - December 2027). Mentors will work with fellows to make fellows' manuscript submissions more likely to be accepted by the journal or another journal. Manuscript submissions must be related to causes of or ways to address health inequities.
Fellows will be required to participate in workshops/seminars on publishing, peer-reviewing, research methods for addressing health inequities, etc. Fellowship participants will also be required to publish at least one Health Affairs Forefront article relating to their subject area and/or experience with the Fellowship.
The expected time commitment of each fellow will be approximately a minimum of four hours per month. This includes fellowship engagement such as updating/meeting with mentors on progress of manuscript and partaking in fellowship workshops/events.
There will be no financial compensation associated with the fellowship.

To be eligible for Health Affairs' Health Equity Fellowship for Trainees, you must:
· Be a graduate-level (doctoral) student, postdoctoral researcher, or early career researcher who is no more than seven years outside of having earned your graduate degree.
· Be engaged in health services research that advances health equity.
· Working on a research project that is within 12 to 18 months of being submitted for publishing


To Apply
Applications for the 2026-2027 cohort will be open from January 20, 2026- March 16, 2026.

· One-page cover letter (stating why you should be selected)
· Abstract of proposed manuscript on a health-equity related topic (will accept draft manuscript, but not required)
· Enrollment verification (for students and postdocs only)
· One recommendation letter from someone with whom you have engaged in research

Once a fellow has been accepted, each institution or employer of the fellow, if applicable, will be asked to sign an agreement pledging to support the Fellow by:

· Ensuring that Fellow participates in the Fellowship, including attendance at seminars and workshops
· Providing adequate time and resources for the fellow to write, edit, and carryout task required to produce a publishable manuscript
· Allowing Health Affairs to own, publish and promote the work on Health Affairs' channels

Due to the large number of inquiries we receive, only candidates who have met the required experience & qualifications for this position will be considered.