Postgraduate Training

The Immunobiology Department welcomes applications from students who have completed undergraduate study and want to spend one or two years gaining a full-time research experience with mentoring and additional training as a postgraduate trainee. Departmental activities open to postgraduate trainees include weekly seminars by leading immunologists from around the world, human and translational immunology seminars, journal clubs, research-in-progress presentations, annual retreats, and many other activities. We encourage applications from trainees from diverse backgrounds who are excited to learn and contribute to our research programs while enriching our immunobiology community. Some open positions are listed on the Office for Postdoctoral Affairs website, and we recommend that interested candidates directly email your resume/CV to any PI with whom you are interested in working.

Please contact Drs. Paula Kavathas (paula.kavathas@yale.edu) or Carrie Lucas (carrie.lucas@yale.edu) with any general questions.

My path after leaving Yale Immunobiology was to work with the WHO, European Mobile Laboratory (EMLab) and Bernhard Nocht Institute in Guinea during the 2014-2016 Ebola Outbreak in West Africa. I later joined the lab of Caetano Reis e Sousa at The Francis Crick Institute in London where I completed a PhD in Immunology looking at generation of immune responses during Influenza infection. I am currently a Schmidt Science Postdoctoral Fellow in the lab of Gonçalo Bernardes in Cambridge developing new tools for medical imaging working at the interface between Chemistry and Immunology.

"Having the opportunity to be at the Yale School of Medicine was the beginning of my academic career. Thanks to the exciting environment I found there, l was truly inspired and convinced to pursue a PhD. I am extremely grateful for the training, support and good friends I gained while I was at the Immunobiology Department."

After my postbac I did a year at Case Western Reserve University as an NIH-PREP Scholar. I am currently a first-year PhD student in the Yale BBS program

"My time as a postgrad was instrumental in my discovering my scientific interests and deciding to pursue a PhD."

Currently a third-year Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. candidate at University of California San Francsico (UCSF), co-mentored by Hideho Okada M.D., Ph.D. and Joseph Costello Ph.D

"My experience in Yale's Immunobiology Department helped bridge my engineering training with my interest in biomedical research through immunology. In addition to various techniques learned, my training helped cultivate valuable research skills that allows me to be an independent thinker in my current thesis project. I hope to continue honing these skills and applying them in my current cancer immunotherapy research at UCSF!"

Currently a first year MD/PhD student at the Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University

"Motivating me to gain meaningful translation research experience, I was fortunate enough to grow my knowledge and critical thinking skills as an independent researcher in the supportive IBIO program. I am grateful to have spent a significant amount of time on a project, and through my successes and failures in the lab experience the excitement of publishing our work. I cherished the various opportunities every week to be exposed to world-renowned immunologists during presentations and events. I benefited immensely from the interactive and collaborative environment in the program, and through connecting with expert basic and clinical scientists further developed as an aspiring physician scientist."

Currently a PhD Student at the University of Toronto

"Yale IBIO postgraduate training deepened my appreciation for the burgeoning potential of Immunological research and application and inspired me to pursue graduate studies in Immunology. Here, I was trained by and connected with a network of world-leading Immunologists driven to push medicine forward with creative ideas that can be channeled into scientific breakthroughs and promising therapies. That's what I hope to do with my career."

Currently a MD/PhD Candidate in the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) at Duke University

"As an IBIO postgraduate, I gained a strong foundation in immunology by pursuing cutting-edge research and participating in the active, scientific community. This immersive experience has helped launch my career as an aspiring physician-scientist."

Currently a Graduate student in the Biology department at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (immediately following postgraduate employment).

"The IBIO department cultivated my passion and appreciation for research focused on advancing the understanding and treatment of human disease. The departmental seminars, meetings, and my postgrad training ultimately informed my decision to pursue a PhD in biomedical research and prepared me for completing graduate-level coursework and research."

Currently an Immunobiology PhD student at Yale

"I studied the molecular biology of viruses in my undergraduate research but found my scientific calling in an immunology course during my senior year. My postgrad training at Yale was instrumental in refining my academic interests and expertise in the lab in preparation for graduate school. Diving into an exciting project, building a close network of colleagues and friends, and gaining exposure to world-class research all reinforced my development as a scientist during this time."

Currently a Research Assistant at the Yale School of Public Health and the Injury Science Center at the University of Pennsylvania. I intend to enter an MD/PhD training program in Fall 2021.

"Working as a postbac was one of the best professional choices I’ve ever made. While I gained a prodigious amount of technical know-how (read: hundreds of qPCRs and late-night dissections), the training I received in the Immunobiology department went far beyond this. Instead, I learnt the realities of managing a project, and discovered a vision for what I wanted a career in science to look like. I feel equipped now to manage any project I may take on: and further, I know now that science can be used to create good for the world around me."