2026-2027 Sanford Fellowship Program: Designing Empathy in Healthcare

RFA Code: RFA-RCSF-07

I. Program Overview

The T. Denny Sanford Institute for Empathy and Compassion (TDSIEC) at UC San Diego invites applications for its 2026–2027 Research Fellowship. Under the theme “Designing Empathy in Healthcare,” this cycle supports pre- and post-doctoral scholars investigating the biological, psychological, and clinical systems that enable empathy and compassion to emerge, endure, and be enacted particularly within healthcare.

At a time when healthcare systems are marked by accelerating technological change, rising clinician burnout, and widening gaps in human connection, empathy cannot be left to chance or individual disposition. At the Sanford Institute, we understand empathy as an active, learnable, and measurable capacity that depends on underlying structures that can either support or erode compassionate care. Designing Empathy in Healthcare foregrounds the idea that compassion is built, sustained, and transmitted through identifiable mechanisms and environments, and that these structures can be intentionally designed, strengthened, and repaired.

This theme invites researchers to examine the interdependent systems that make empathy possible in practice:

• The Biological Foundation: Mapping the neural circuits, physiological processes, and embodied synchrony that form the bedrock of empathic response.
• The Psychological Scaffolding: Understanding the cognitive, emotional, and developmental processes that allow individuals to recognize, interpret, and respond to the experiences of others.
• The Clinical Infrastructure: Designing care environments, communication tools, and organizational systems that allow empathy and compassion to flourish within the realities of modern medicine.

This call is intentionally focused on pre- and post-doctoral researchers, as the future of empathic healthcare depends on the next generation of scholars and practitioners. Graduate students and postdoctoral fellows bring innovative, interdisciplinary perspectives, integrating neuroscience, clinical practice, social justice, and data science, that are essential for reimagining how compassion is embedded within healthcare systems.

Through this fellowship, the Institute seeks to support trainees in moving beyond the study of empathy as an abstract construct toward the development of empathy as a sustainable, actionable practice and one that shapes how healthcare is taught, delivered, and experienced.    

II. About the Institute

Founded in 2019, the Sanford Institute represents an unprecedented blending of three themes:

1. Medical Education: Sanford Institute scientists conduct empirical research into the most effective mechanisms that enable providers to demonstrate compassion and practice greater empathy.
2. Physician Burnout: Part of the Sanford Institute's mission involves extrapolating new science-based programs and remedies to address this issue through validated instruction of self-compassion, mindfulness training (including assessing and integrating existing compassion training protocols) and a heightened focus on mental health.
3. Research: The Sanford Institute employs state-of-the-art neuroscience technologies, including sophisticated neuro-imaging, to identify and map brain activity created by empathic behavior, quantify the factors promoting or inhibiting compassionate behavior and design new methods to increase empathic signals in the brain.

Our vision is a transformation of medical education where competence in empathy is as essential as technical skill.

III. Fellowship Objectives

We welcome innovative projects across the spectrum of "connection," including:

• Biological Foundations: Human-centered research using real-time, objective empathy measures (e.g., fMRI, physiological syncing).
• Interdisciplinary Models: Integrating law, business, or anthropology to understand how connection varies across cultural landscapes.
• Scalable Architecture: Research with the potential for implementation in health systems, policy, or global medical education.
• Data Science: Using machine learning or Bayesian methods to predict or interpret human connection.
• Social Justice: Addressing connection and empathy gaps in minoritized or underserved populations.

IV. Funding & Duration

• Total Funding: Up to $100,000 (Direct Costs).
• Budgetary Scope: Funds may be used for a portion of the Fellow’s salary (aligned with UCSD scales) and essential research expenses (supplies, participant incentives, or equipment).
• Project Period: One year (12 months).
• Renewal: Support will be provided for up to two years for Fellows. Renewal for a second year requires submission and approval of a progress report covering the first year.

V. Eligibility and Mentorship Requirements

• Candidate: Must be a full-time UC San Diego graduate student or postdoctoral scholar in good standing.
• Faculty Mentor: Applicants must identify a UCSD faculty mentor (including Adjunct faculty at Salk, Scripps Research, or Sanford Burnham Prebys).
• Mentorship Agreement: The mentor must demonstrate a track record of successful supervision and provide a dedicated training environment for the Fellow.

VI. Submission Guidelines

Phase I: Letter of Intent (LOI)

The LOI serves as a preliminary screen for mission alignment and scientific feasibility.

• Project Title: Concise and descriptive.
• Biographical Data: Brief bios of the Applicant and Faculty Mentor.
• Specific Aims Summary (≤500 words): Outline the central hypothesis, objectives, and the potential impact on the field of empathy research.
• Preliminary Budget Estimate: High-level breakdown of salary vs. research costs.

 Phase II: Formal Proposal (By Invitation Only)

Selected applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal. All documents must follow 11pt Arial font and 0.5-inch margins.

1. Abstract (300 words): A technical summary of the project.
2. Public Summary (150 words): A non-technical description for lay audiences.
3. Specific Aims (1 page): State the goals of the research and the hypotheses to be tested.
4. Research Strategy (6 pages): 
   1. Significance: Does this project address an important problem or a critical barrier to progress in empathy research?
   2. Innovation: Does the project challenge existing paradigms or use novel methodologies?
   3. Approach: Describe the experimental design, methods, and statistical analyses.
5. Mentorship & Training Plan (1 page): Describe the frequency of meetings, the mentor’s role in the project, and specific professional development goals for the Fellow.
6. Budget Justification: Detailed itemization of all costs. Include hourly rates for any personnel and justification for equipment over $5,000.
7. Project Timeline: A Gantt chart or table detailing milestones over the 12-month period.
8. NIH Bio-sketches: Required for both the Applicant and the Faculty Mentor.

VII. Review Criteria

Applications will be evaluated by an expert multi-disciplinary committee based on:

• Significance & Mission Alignment
• Candidate Potential
• Innovation
• Approach & Feasibility
• Mentorship & Training Environment
• Future Funding & Career Launch

VIII. Deadlines

• February 13, 2026 @12PM: Info Session
• February 20, 2026: Open RFA
• March 16, 2026: Letter of Intent Deadline
• April 6, 2026: Next Stage Decision
• May 29, 2026: Full Proposal Deadline
• May 30-June 21, 2026: Peer Review Period
• June 22, 2026: Notices of Award Sent
• June 23-June 30, 2026: Administrative Setup & Fund Transfer
• July 1, 2026: Fellowship Start Date

Questions?

Contact Research Program Coordinator, Cindy Chwa, MPH, at cchwa@health.ucsd.edu.