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

Competition takes place annually for the Odyssey Program awards. Odyssey fellows 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.

Program Overview

Odyssey fellows must have a doctoral degree (Ph.D., M.D. or equivalent) conferred within two years before funding starts. To be eligible to apply, applicants must have either an appointment at MD Anderson or the offer of an appointment by a member of the faculty of MD Anderson, and they must plan to take the position before or at the time funding starts (Sept. 1).

Odyssey fellows will receive salary support and benefits from the Odyssey Program at a minimum of the NIH NRSA rates. When sufficient funds are available, salary will be provided at a rate of 20% above NIH NRSA rates and a research allowance of up to $5,000 per year will be provided for the purchase of supplies and small equipment, as well as for travel to scientific meetings in the continental United States.

Fellows are appointed for one year, with two one-year renewals possible, depending on satisfactory progress as assessed by an annual progress report. All fellowship years start Sept. 1 and end Aug. 31 of the following year.

Odyssey Program Advisory Committee

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

Members for 2017 are as follows (listed in the order they joined the committee):

• Li Ma, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Experimental Radiation Oncology, Chair
• Richard Bouchard, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Imaging Physics, Co-Chair
• Min Gyu Lee, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Molecular & Cellular Oncology
• Curtis R. Pickering, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Head & Neck Surgery - Research
• Swathi Arur, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Genetics
• Lan Pham, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Hematopathology - Research
• Francesca Cole Bergemann, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Epigenetics & Molecular Carcinogenesis
• Laura Beretta, Ph.D., Professor, Molecular & Cellular Oncology
• Chun Li, Ph.D., Professor, Cancer Systems Imaging
• Ken Chen, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Bioinformatics & Computational Biology
• Michelle Hildebrandt, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Epidemiology
• Tomasz Zal, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Immunology
• Menashe Bar-Eli, Ph.D., Professor, Cancer Biology
• Krishna Bhat, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Translational Molecular Pathology
• Jennifer Wargo, M.D., Associate Professor, Surgical Oncology and Genomic Medicine
• Clifton Fuller, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Radiation Oncology

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

Application Dates

• Request for applications: issued in January
• Deadline for applications: end of February (refer to email notification for specific date)
• Applicants notified of outcome: May-June
• Funding starts: Sept. 1

Application Process

To apply for the Odyssey Program fellowship, please do the following:

1. Download and read the Odyssey Program Application Guidelines (pdf).
2. Download and complete the Odyssey Fellowship Application Form (docx) and Odyssey Fellowship Application Reference Letter (pdf).
3. Download the Odyssey Fellowship Application Mentor Letter (docx) and give it to your mentor/advisor to complete.

Following the instructions in the application guidelines, prepare a single PDF document containing all the necessary elements in the following order:

1. Odyssey Fellowship Application Form
2. Odyssey Fellowship Application Mentor Letter
3. Summary of Proposed Research

Name the combined PDF as follows: Lastname_Firstname.pdf. Submit your combined PDF document to odyssey@mdanderson.org before the deadline (refer to email notification for specific date). Please note that all emails are time-stamped. Late submissions will not be accepted.

Annual Symposium

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

Contact Information

Questions regarding the Odyssey Program may be directed to odyssey@mdanderson.org.