Odyssey Program

Mission

The Odyssey Program sponsors outstanding postdoctoral fellows who wish to pursue innovative cancer research at MD Anderson. Its mission:

• To support the training and research efforts of scientists at the beginning of their careers
• To encourage scientists to explore novel areas of clinical, translational, basic or population-based cancer research
• To give participants the opportunity to take advantage of the resources offered by the institution

The Odyssey Program consists of the Odyssey Fellowship Program and the Outstanding Research Publication Award. The Odyssey Fellowship Program supports the training and research efforts of dedicated scientists at the beginning of their career, while the Outstanding Research Publication is an award given yearly to recognize the achievements of postdoctoral fellows for work accomplished at the MD Anderson Cancer Center. The Odyssey Fellowship Program receive a maximum of three years of support for salaries and other expenses. They work at MD Anderson in a stimulating environment that helps them prepare for successful careers in cancer research.

Odyssey Program Guidelines

Odyssey Program Advisory Committee

Proposals are reviewed and scored by the Odyssey Program Advisory Committee.

Members for 2018 are as follows (listed in the order they joined the committee):

• Richard Bouchard, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Imaging Physics, Chair
• Menashe Bar-Eli, Ph.D., Professor, Cancer Biology
• Ken Chen, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
• Michelle Hildebrandt, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Epidemiology
• Chun Li, Ph.D., Professor, Cancer Systems Imaging
• Tomasz Zal, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Immunology
• Krishna Bhat, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Translational Molecular Pathology
• Clifton Fuller, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor, Radiation Oncology
  
• Jennifer Wargo, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Surgical Oncology, Co-Chair
• Boyi Gan, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Experimental Radiation Oncology
  
• Margarida Almeida Santos, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Epigenetics and Molecular Carcinogenesis
  
• Min Sup Song, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Molecular and Cellular Oncology
  

Committee members serve for three years. Additional faculty may be requested as necessary to participate in the applications review process.

Annual Symposium

The Odyssey Symposium is held each June at MD Anderson. All Odyssey fellows are expected to participate in the symposium.

Contact Information

Nancy Strange
Sr. Administrative Assistant, Academic Affairs
713-792-2552
ndstrange@mdanderson.org

Marites P. Melancon, Ph.D.
Program Director, Odyssey Program
713-794-5387
mmelancon@mdanderson.org