# U-RISE at UC Merced

> **NIH NIH T34** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, MERCED · 2023 · $362,058

## Abstract

U*RISE at UC Merced - Project Abstract
National statistics clearly indicate a disparity in the number of underrepresented minorities
obtaining higher degrees in biomedical or biobehavioral disciplines. Given that the University of
California, Merced (UC Merced) is an established Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) with the
highest percentage of Hispanic undergraduates enrolled of any of the 10 UC campuses, UC Merced
is ideally situated to realize the greatest benefit from an NIH U*RISE T34 training grant. Our
proposed U*RISE program will support undergraduate scholars of primarily Hispanic-descent
given our demographics, but we expect to use this opportunity to attract more students from other
backgrounds to enhance the diversity of our campus and ultimately of our training pool. Thus,
our proposal has potential for the highest impact to help transform the diversity of our
undergraduate student body and ultimately the diversity of the graduate ranks as well. Data from
our campus indicate a justified need to enhance and enrich the quantitative skills of our
undergraduate scholars via focused research training in computational and/or systems biology.
Faculty expertise and a history of extramural funding to support UC Merced’s many
computational biology and Applied Math components makes a U*RISE program focusing on
quantitative skills highly pertinent and sustainable at UC Merced. Thus, U*RISE at UC Merced
will emphasize providing an enriching research experience for undergraduate scholars by
providing unique opportunities in computational biology and/or systems biology including
bioinformatics, multiple “-omics” approaches, and big data analytics. The innovation in our
program lies in the cohort approach in which cohorts of trainees will work collaboratively on
projects and in our novel learning modules. The strong institutional commitment from the
Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost, the Office of Undergraduate Education, and the
Undergraduate Research Opportunities Center (UROC) will help ensure the successful training
and placement of all our scholars. Levering other institutional resources such as UC Merced’s
Health Sciences Research Institute (HSRI) will also help succor the program’s successes. In
summary, given UC Merced’s HSI status, demographics, and demonstrated need for enhanced
training of its undergraduate scholars with a focus on quantitative skills makes it an ideal training
institution to establish a U*RISE program with the potential for very high impact.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10597707
- **Project number:** 5T34GM145511-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, MERCED
- **Principal Investigator:** MICHELE Kiyoko NISHIGUCHI
- **Activity code:** T34 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $362,058
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-04-01 → 2027-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10597707

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10597707, U-RISE at UC Merced (5T34GM145511-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10597707. Licensed CC0.

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