# SDSU Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (SDSU IMSD)

> **NIH NIH R25** · SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $529,847

## Abstract

SDSU IMSD Program
PROJECT SUMMARY
The overall aim of the SDSU Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (IMSD) Program is to increase the
number of students from underrepresented groups who attain Ph.D. degrees in the biomedical, physical and
behavioral sciences. We will facilitate their exposure to science, academia and careers as researchers. The
program will provide 25 undergraduates with faculty mentoring, customized advising, extracurricular experiences
and opportunities for communicating with engaged peers each year during the course of the project period. We
have assembled a dedicated group of research-active mentors who will provide our students with hands-on
research training. Our management and assessment plan will measure and ensure program and student
success. We will provide a highly personalized experience to the students so that they can become the
successful science leaders of tomorrow, and thereby, improve the diversity of research scientists. Furthermore,
we provide documentation of the effects our program has had upon students. Our program will continue to help
students to build strong, highly competitive applications for doctoral programs so that they will directly enter into
STEM Ph.D. programs (we have an average direct Ph.D. acceptance rate of 88.2% in the last 5 years). To
accomplish our goals, we plan to (1) provide year-round mentored research experiences that will allow 25 IMSD
undergraduate students to acquire excellent research and laboratory skills, (2) continue with our Pre-IMSD
Program to recruit STEM freshman/sophomore students early (unfunded by IMSD) to introduce biomedical
research and the pathway to preparing for graduate school, and (3) develop the critical thinking and oral and
written communication skills of all program participants, by providing opportunities to present their research
before professional audiences and to contribute to manuscripts for publication. We also propose aims related to
program evaluation including (1) to systematically measure program outcomes with mixed methods of
quantitative and qualitative data collection and the establishment of a comprehensive electronic tracking
database, (2) to use the data to continuously improve the program by maintaining elements that are most
effective, and (3) to communicate the success of the SDSU IMSD Program.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10135093
- **Project number:** 5R25GM058906-22
- **Recipient organization:** SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** WILLIAM G. TONG
- **Activity code:** R25 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $529,847
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1999-03-01 → 2024-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10135093

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10135093, SDSU Initiative for Maximizing Student Development (SDSU IMSD) (5R25GM058906-22). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10135093. Licensed CC0.

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