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Ferguson Fellowship Program

The Dr. James A. Ferguson Emerging Infectious Disease Fellowship Program provides educational and experiential opportunities for racial and ethnic minority medical, dental, pharmacy, veterinary, and public health graduate students in a broad array of public health activities. Ferguson Fellows are engaged for eight weeks in a rigorous program of public health research and/or intervention, which they summarize in a scientific presentation at the end of the session. Ferguson Fellows' travel and housing expenses are paid, and they receive a stipend for the summer.

Training the Next Generation of Public Health Professionals

As of August, 2004, 339 students have participated in the Ferguson Emerging Infectious Disease Fellowship Program. The program now includes medical, veterinary and pharmacy doctoral students, and masters of public health students. Students are recruited from all over the United States and are assigned to conduct research in laboratories and other public health settings in Atlanta, Georgia; Anchorage, Alaska; and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

History of the Program

Dr. James A. Ferguson (1938-1998) was the fourth Dean of Tuskegee University's School of Veterinary Medicine, and the first Tuskegee alumnus to serve in this capacity. Dr. Ferguson was appointed Dean in 1991, after two years of service as its Associate Dean for administration.

Dr. Ferguson had the distinction of heading the most racially, culturally, and ethnically diverse school of veterinary medicine in North America. His is also the only one of the 27 schools of veterinary medicine in the United States located at a predominantly African American university. Tuskegee University has graduated over 71% of all African American veterinarians working in the United States.

While at Tuskegee, Dr. Ferguson was instrumental in encouraging the establishment of the Summer Research Fellowship Program at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This program was instituted at the National Center for Infectious Diseases at CDC in 1989. The program was designed to provide opportunities for racial and ethnic minority medical and veterinary students to explore the broad range of public health career options available to them upon graduation. Initially the partnership only involved two institutions (Tuskegee University School of Veterinary and Morehouse School of Medicine), but has now expanded to include all nine Minority Health Professions Schools. In the year 2000 the Ferguson Fellowship Program was expanded to include racial and ethnic minority students from schools of public health.

In honor of the late Dr. James Ferguson and in recognition of his contributions to the mission of the National Center for Infectious Diseases of the CDC, as well as his commitment to helping minority students pursue careers in public health, the program was renamed the "Dr. James A. Ferguson Emerging Infectious Diseases Fellowship Program" in 1999.

The Ferguson Fellowship Program is administered by the Minority Health Professions Foundation, one of CDC's key partners. For more information or to request an application, contact the Minority Health Professions Foundation at 404-756-8931, or go to their website at http://www.minorityhealth.org.

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