The Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health programme was built to change that.

Administered by the Global Brain Health Institute (GBHI) — a joint initiative of Trinity College Dublin and the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) — this fellowship brings together experienced professionals from every discipline imaginable to spend a year deepening their knowledge, building global networks, and developing the leadership capacity to advance brain health equity in their communities and countries.

Applications for the 2027–2028 programme are now open. Deadlines vary by site:

• Trinity College Dublin: 18 September 2026
• UCSF: 2 November 2026

What Is the Global Brain Health Institute?

GBHI was founded on a specific and urgent insight: that the global burden of dementia is not inevitable. A significant proportion of dementia risk is attributable to modifiable factors — hypertension, physical inactivity, social isolation, hearing loss, depression, and others — that can be addressed through policy, community action, and clinical practice. The institute exists to build the generation of leaders who will do that work.

Based across Trinity College Dublin — one of Europe’s oldest and most respected research universities — and UCSF — one of the world’s leading academic medical centres — GBHI has built one of the most genuinely interdisciplinary brain health research and education programmes in the world.

The Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health is its flagship leadership development programme.

Two Fellowship Pathways: Choose the Right One for You

The fellowship year is completed at one of two sites. Both share the same mission, values, and commitment to brain health equity. Each offers a distinct learning experience.

GBHI at Trinity College Dublin

A full-time, in-person fellowship based in Dublin, Ireland. The Trinity programme emphasises a life-course approach to brain health — examining the social determinants of dementia risk throughout life, from childhood conditions through to late-life vulnerability. Fellows are immersed in Dublin’s intellectual and research environment, with full access to Trinity’s world-class academic infrastructure and the broader European health research community.

Application deadline: 18 September 2026

GBHI at UCSF

A global hybrid fellowship combining interactive online learning, international in-person workshops, and flexible opportunities to engage with the UCSF Fein Memory and Aging Center. Fellows maintain a connection to their home institutions and communities while accessing world-leading clinical care, research, and interdisciplinary education from one of the US’s premier medical research universities.

Application deadline: 2 November 2026

Applicants may apply to only one site per cycle. Choose based on which model, full-time Dublin immersion or flexible global hybrid, best fits your professional context and learning preferences.

Who This Fellowship Is For

One of the most distinctive features of the Atlantic Fellows programme is the breadth of professional backgrounds it welcomes. This is not a programme exclusively for clinicians or neuroscientists.

Previous and current Atlantic Fellows come from:

• Clinical medicine and nursing
• Neuroscience and neurology
• Public health and epidemiology
• Policy and government
• Technology and engineering
• Education
• Journalism and media
• The arts and creative practice
• Business and social enterprise
• Social sciences and anthropology

The rationale for this interdisciplinary design is genuine. Brain health equity is not solved by medicine alone — it requires policy change, community mobilisation, public communication, technological innovation, and cultural shift. A clinician working alongside a journalist, an engineer, and a policy analyst produces different thinking than any of them would in isolation.

If your work — in any professional field — connects to brain health, ageing, dementia, or the social and structural conditions that shape health across a lifetime, this fellowship is worth pursuing seriously.

What the Fellowship Provides

The programme documentation describes the fellowship as fully funded — covering the costs of participation for selected fellows. The specific financial package varies by site and applicant circumstances. Visit gbhi.org directly for the current funding details for both Trinity and UCSF programmes.

Beyond financial support, fellows receive:

Education across disciplines — clinical, scientific, public health, and humanities perspectives on brain health, structured to build on your existing expertise rather than replace it.

Leadership development — skills and frameworks for creating institutional and community change, not just technical knowledge.

Global network — connections with a lifelong community of brain health leaders from every region of the world, across all disciplines.

GBHI Pilot Awards — competitive funding available to fellows to support projects improving brain health outcomes in their home communities. Atlantic Fellow Prabha Shrestha, for example, is using a Pilot Award to lead a community-based project on hypertension as a modifiable dementia risk factor in rural Nepal — demonstrating the direct pathway from fellowship learning to community impact.

Atlantic Fellows network — access to the broader Atlantic Fellows programme, connecting you with leaders across seven fellowship initiatives working on equity, health, and social justice worldwide.

The Life After the Fellowship

The programme is explicitly designed as the beginning of a lifelong community — not a one-year experience followed by disconnection. Atlantic Fellows remain part of the GBHI network, accessing mentorship, collaboration, and continued learning after their fellowship year ends.

Many fellows go on to lead innovative research, influence national health policy, launch community dementia initiatives, and train the next generation of brain health professionals in their own countries. The fellowship provides the relationships, the intellectual framework, and the institutional connections to make this possible — not just the aspiration.

Key Dates

Attend a webinar before applying — hearing from current fellows and GBHI faculty directly is the most efficient way to understand whether this programme fits your goals.

Honest Assessment

For experienced professionals in any field who are genuinely committed to reducing the burden of dementia and advancing brain health equity, this fellowship is exceptional.

The interdisciplinary design means your non-clinical background is not a limitation — it is a contribution. The dual-site structure means you can choose the mode of engagement (full-time immersion or flexible hybrid) that fits your professional life. The global network you join is a lifelong resource. And the GBHI’s institutional base at Trinity and UCSF means the research infrastructure, clinical connections, and academic credibility behind the programme are world-class.

The realistic requirement is that you are an experienced professional with a genuine professional connection to the programme’s themes, not a recent graduate looking for their first career opportunity. The fellowship is designed for people already doing meaningful work who want to deepen their impact.

FAQ

Is this fellowship open to professionals from Africa and the Global South?
Yes, explicitly. The programme is global in scope and actively recruits fellows from underrepresented regions, including Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.

Does the fellowship require a clinical or scientific background?
No. Fellows come from every professional field. Non-clinical backgrounds are actively welcomed; the interdisciplinary design is intentional.

Can I apply to both Trinity and UCSF?
No. You may apply to one site per application cycle.

Where do I apply?
Visit gbhi.org for the current application portal for both Trinity and UCSF programmes. Attend the relevant webinar before applying.

When does the fellowship begin?
Late August 2027 for both sites.

For more information and application: 

Visit the official website of the Atlantic Fellows for Equity in Brain Health 2027–2028