Three Indian Americans are among the national finalists for the 2015-16 White House Fellowship that offers exceptional Americans first-hand experience working at the highest levels of the federal government…reports Asian Lite News.

By Arun Kumar

Luxme Hariharan, Payal Patel and Anil Yallapragada are among those representing “an accomplished and diverse cross-section of professionals from the private sector, academia, medicine, and armed services”.

They will be evaluated by the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships from June 11 to 14, according to a White House statement.

Luxme Hariharan from Madison, Wisconsin, is Paediatric Cataract, Glaucoma, Cornea and International Health Fellow, Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles, University of Southern California Eye Institute.

Payal Patel from Houston, Texas, is Infectious Diseases Fellow, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Centre, Harvard Medical School.

Anil Yallapragada from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, is Medical Director, South Carolina Stroke Institute, Grand Strand Medical Centre.

Under the programme founded in 1964 by President Lyndon B. Johnson, selected individuals spend a year in Washington, DC working full-time for cabinet secretaries, senior White House staff, and other top-ranking government officials.

There are more than 700 White House Fellow alumni, a distinguished group that includes former secretary of state Colin Powell, CNN chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta, and Pulitzer Prize-winning author and historian Doris Kearns Goodwin.