Ragon Institute Overview
The Ramón Areces Foundation Research Fellowship provides funding for postdoctoral fellows to study at the Ragon Institute of Mass General Brigham, MIT, and Harvard for a period of two years under the guidance of a Ragon Institute faculty member. The awardees of the fellowship will have the opportunity to study HIV/AIDS, other infectious diseases of global import including COVID-19, vaccine development, cancer, or other areas of immunology that are investigated at the Ragon Institute, depending on the awardees’ qualifications and the lab with which they are matched.
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About the Ramón Areces Foundation
The fellowship is funded by the Ramón Areces Foundation, a Madrid-based organization that supports scientific and technical research in Spain and by Spanish researchers living abroad. More information about the foundation is available on its website.
Requirements
The fellowship will cover salary and benefits for a period of two years.
The successful candidate for the fellowship must meet the following criteria:
- Eligible candidates include PhD, MD, and PhD/MD applicants who have completed their graduate training or who are in the final year of their graduate training and are pursuing any area of science that falls within the mission of the Ragon Institute
- All candidates should demonstrate a record of excellence in basic or translational research and have the ability to work collaboratively with other scientists
- The Ragon Institute welcomes researchers with backgrounds in virology, computational and structural biology, computational statistics, engineering, physical sciences, microbiology, immunology, and related fields who have studied at Spanish institutions of higher education.
Application Process
Applications are now being accepted through September 30, 2026.
- Submit a curriculum vitae (CV)
- Submit a one-page statement of purpose that fully describes the candidate’s research goals, and identifies the host lab at the Ragon Institute as well as any instances of prior collaboration with the lab or the Ragon Institute
- Submit a letter of support from the host lab at the Ragon Institute
Applications should be emailed to Gail Sanders, Deputy Director for Strategic Initiatives, at [email protected].
Current Fellows
Carlos Casquero
Casquero, who trained in biochemistry at the University of Navarra in Spain, is a research technician in the Walker Lab at the Ragon Institute. His research focuses on HIV, including the cellular and immune dynamics that shape how the virus persists in people on antiretroviral therapy.
Gema González Rubio
Gema González Rubio, PhD, originally from Madrid, Spain, is a current Ramón Areces Foundation Research Fellow at the Ragon Institute. She earned her biology degree from the Complutense University of Madrid, participated in an Erasmus program at Masaryk University in the Czech Republic, and completed a master’s and PhD in microbiology and parasitology in the Molina Lab. During her doctoral studies, she interned at the University of California, Berkeley, under Jeremy Thorner, PhD. In March 2024, she joined the Evavold Lab at the Ragon Institute, focusing on the interactions between pathogenic yeasts, such as Candida albicans, and the human immune system, aiming to benefit immunocompromised patients, including those with HIV and cancer.
Alumni
Alberto D. López-Muñoz
Alberto D. López-Muñoz, PhD, was a previous Ramón Areces Foundation Research Fellow at the Ragon Institute. He earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Murcia and went on to complete a master’s in molecular biomedicine and a PhD in virology at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, conducting his doctoral research in the Alcamí Lab at the Centro de Biología Molecular Severo Ochoa, where he studied how a surface protein of herpes simplex virus contributes to disease. From 2019 to 2024, he was a postdoctoral fellow in the Laboratory of Viral Diseases at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, where he investigated antiviral antibody responses and host-pathogen interactions, including work on the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid protein and an influenza vaccine candidate. In January 2025, he joined the Balazs Lab at the Ragon Institute as a fellow.
Education and Outreach
The Office of Education and Outreach supports the Institute’s mission by offering programs such as RISE and PRISM to students from the Greater Boston community — setting a foundation for the next generation of researchers.
Career Opportunities
Whether you are an early-career scientist looking for the next step in your career, or a seasoned administrative professional — The Ragon is committed to bringing the best and brightest together.