phd harvard medical school

Medical Sciences

Share this page.

The Division​ of Medical Sciences is one of the programs in the Harvard Integrated Life Sciences that facilitates collaboration and cross-disciplinary research. Visit HILS for additional  application instructions .

Established at Harvard University in 1908, the Division of Medical Sciences (DMS) provides students wishing to pursue careers in research and teaching with a broad education in basic biomedical science fields and specialization in one of them. Classroom and laboratory instruction are conducted primarily by faculty in the basic sciences departments and affiliated hospital laboratories of Harvard Medical School, leading to a PhD awarded by the Harvard Kenneth C. Griffin Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (Harvard Griffin GSAS). For over 100 years, this fruitful collaboration has spawned research achievements across the spectrum, from basic science to experimental medicine. Since 1909, more than 2,800 division graduates, including six Nobel Laureates, have gone on to distinguished careers in biomedical research, university teaching, and a number of increasingly diverse careers.

DMS offers six interdisciplinary areas of study leading to a PhD in the biomedical sciences, which share a common purpose of fostering a stimulating and supportive environment for research training in the biomedical sciences:  Biomedical Informatics , ​ Biological and Biomedical Sciences ,  Immunology ,  Neuroscience ,  Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology , and Virology .

DMS students are enrolled in and receive a PhD from Harvard Griffin GSAS even though they may work primarily with Harvard Medical School faculty. 

Additional information on the graduate program is available from the Division of Medical Sciences , and requirements for the degree are detailed in  policies .

Admissions Requirements

Please review the admissions requirements and other information before applying. You can find degree program-specific admissions requirements below and access additional guidance on applying from the Division of Medical Sciences .

In the application for admission, select Division of Medical Sciences as your degree program choice and your area of interest from the area of study drop down.

If you have published articles, please list these in the Academic History section of the application for admission, citing the PubMedID.

All DMS programs conduct personal interviews as part of the application process. Invitations for interviews are usually sent out between late December and early January depending on the program.

Personal Statement

Standardized tests.

GRE General: Not Accepted for Biological & Biomedical Sciences, Neuroscience, Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology, and Virology. Optional for Biomedical Informatics and Immunology. GRE Subject: Optional for Biomedical Informatics and Immunology. iBT TOEFL minimum score: 100 IELTS minimum score: 7

Biomedical Informatics

BIG track: Applicants to the BIG program typically have majored in a quantitative field (e.g., computer science, mathematics, statistics, physics, bioengineering) with a demonstrated interest in biological sciences OR have majored in a biological science but with considerable aptitude in computer programming and quantitative methods.

AIM track: The AIM program aims to train students who have majored in a quantitative field to solve problems in biomedicine and clinical care. There isn't a fixed set of requirements for preparation. However, as the program is computationally and quantitatively rigorous, successful applicants will show mastery of fields such as statistics, linear algebra, computer science, and machine learning. Though not necessary, foundational biological or medical knowledge will be a benefit.

Neuroscience (PIN)

While there are no specific degree subject, course, or research requirements, applicants are expected to have rigorous undergraduate coursework in the sciences, including biology, chemistry, and physics, and prior lab research experience. Applicants who have trained outside of neuroscience and biology are expected to have a demonstrated interest in neuroscience.

The statement of purpose should help the admissions committee get to know each applicant as a person and as a scientist. How did your background and lived experience help shape you as a scientist? What are your interests and goals in graduate school? How do your research experiences and goals fit within this context? You should briefly establish a contextual framework, provide a summary of your research experience, including the question(s)/topic(s) of your research, their importance, your hypotheses, how you tested your hypotheses, your findings, possible outcomes, and how you interpreted those outcomes.

Speech and Hearing Bioscience and Technology (SHBT)

Applicants who are invited for on-campus interviews are notified in late December. Interviews generally occur in late January as part of a series of activities beginning on a Thursday evening and ending the following Sunday. Travel and hotel expenses for this visit are covered by the SHBT program. Invited applicants should make every effort to attend the interview weekend, but those who are unable to do so should inquire about other arrangements.

Theses and Dissertations

Theses & dissertations for Division of Medical Sciences

See list of Division of Medical Sciences faculty

APPLICATION DEADLINE

Questions about the program.

Featured Topics

Featured series.

A series of random questions answered by Harvard experts.

Explore the Gazette

Read the latest.

Why row from Boston to London? Because it’s there.

Next up for House renewal: Eliot

FAS receives gift to bolster arts, humanities, and strengthen financial aid

Brandt appointed dean of harvard graduate school of arts and sciences.

Robert Mitchell

Allan M. Brandt, who holds appointments in Harvard University’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) and the Medical School, has been named dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences (GSAS) at Harvard, effective Jan. 1.

In making the announcement, Michael D. Smith, dean of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, said, “Allan is an exceptional scholar and teacher who will bring to the position a deep understanding of the complex issues facing the graduate school.” He added, “His dual appointments in FAS and the Medical School, his service on committees, experience as a department chair, and his service as the director of the Social Science Track of the M.D./Ph.D. Program give him a unique background on which to draw when looking broadly at our graduate programs, both within the FAS and jointly with the other Schools. With creative energy, enthusiasm, and a collaborative spirit, Allan will continue to move us forward in the areas of teaching, training, and funding for graduate students in our many graduate programs, long-standing and new alike.”

“I am enormously honored to assume the leadership of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at this very exciting time,” Brandt said. “Graduate education is a critical aspect of the University’s deepest values and commitments. I very much look forward to working with the faculty, as well as Dean Smith, Provost Hyman, and President Faust to assure that our exceptional graduate programs continue as a source of great innovation and creativity.”

“Allan Brandt will bring extraordinary intelligence, intellectual range, organizational savvy, and concern for the welfare of students to the vital role of leading the GSAS,” said President Drew Faust. “He’s an excellent University citizen and an exceptionally thoughtful, collegial, and humane person, and I look forward to welcoming him to the Council of Deans.”

Harvard Provost Steven E. Hyman added, “As a well-respected scholar with roots across the University, Allan is an ideal leader for the GSAS. His broad range of interests and experience will serve Harvard well, and I greatly look forward to working with him in his new role.”

Brandt, professor of the history of science and Amalie Moses Kass Professor of the History of Medicine, came to Harvard as an instructor in 1982. He was promoted to assistant professor, then associate professor at Harvard before leaving to join the department of social medicine and department of history faculty at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, from 1990 to 1992. He returned to Harvard in 1992 as a professor in both FAS and the Medical School.

Brandt has been an active member of numerous FAS committees, including the Health Policy Interfaculty Initiative, Special Concentrations, Library Committee, and Historical Studies Core Committee. He also served as a member of the Faculty Council (1992-95). For the Medical School, he has served on the Conflict of Interest Committee, Rare Books and Archives Committee, Joint Library Committee, Subcommittee of Professors, and the Academic Promotions Committee. He served as chair of the Department of the History of Science from 2000 to 2006, and from 1996 to 2004 as director of the Division of Medical Ethics at the Medical School.

Brandt’s major research interests include the social history of American medicine, science, and public health; ethics and values in health care; history of human subject research; and American social and political history. He has written extensively about ethical and policy issues in the history of disease. His new book on the social and cultural history of tobacco use, “The Cigarette Century: The Rise, Fall, and Deadly Persistence of the Product that Defined America” (2007) has recently been awarded the Albert J. Beveridge Prize from the American Historical Association and the Arthur Viseltear Prize from the American Public Health Association. Brandt is the recipient of several fellowships and awards, including the Dr. William Cahan Distinguished Professor Award, and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund History of Medicine Award. He was the Charles E. Culpeper Scholar in Medical Humanities.

Outside of Harvard, Brandt has been adviser and committee member for numerous health organizations, including the World Health Organization AIDS/HIV Program, the Hastings Center Study Group on AIDS and Civil Liberties, and two AIDS/HIV-focused committees of the National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine.

Born in Washington, D.C., Brandt received an M.A. (1975), an M.Phil. (1978), and a Ph.D. (1983), all in American history from Columbia University. His B.A. degree in history is from Brandeis University.

Share this article

You might like.

Spaulding Rehabilitation physiatrist, team taking new route, aim to set records 

Building refresh aims to boost accessibility, preserve historic character

Business leader Joseph Y. Bae ’94 and novelist Janice Y. K. Lee ’94 expand upon three decades of supporting academic excellence, opportunity at Harvard

When should Harvard speak out?

Institutional Voice Working Group provides a roadmap in new report

Had a bad experience meditating? You're not alone.

Altered states of consciousness through yoga, mindfulness more common than thought and mostly beneficial, study finds — though clinicians ill-equipped to help those who struggle

Finding right mix on campus speech policies

Legal, political scholars discuss balancing personal safety, constitutional rights, academic freedom amid roiling protests, cultural shifts