# Ponce_Health_Sciences_University_RISE_Graduate_Training_Program.

> **NIH NIH R25** · PONCE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE · 2020 · $783,892

## Abstract

Ponce Health Sciences University (PHSU) requests continued NIH/NIGMS support for its
successful Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE) Program which is about to
enter the final year of its second cycle of funding. The overall goal of the PHSU RISE Program
is to increase the competitiveness of underrepresented Hispanic students graduating from the
Biomedical Sciences Ph.D. program at PHSU in Puerto Rico, and to increase the number of
underrepresented students who advance to postdoctoral positions and research-related
careers. The PHSU RISE program (12 trainees) had a positive impact on the training of our PhD
students and on the entire PSM community during the previous cycles. Since the initiation of
the PHSU RISE Program the Ph.D. completion rate has increased from 73% to 83%, the
average time to graduation has decreased from 6.2 to 5.7 years, and 89% of RISE trainees
have continued with postdoctoral training after graduating. Of the 37 RISE trainees supported
12 have obtained independent fellowships, 19 have graduated with a Ph.D. and 4 have secured
faculty positions. Our program tangibly improved and achieved the benchmarks established in
our previous cycles of funding. We anticipate that this renewal application will build upon those
successes and adapt to several important lessons learned, thus continuing our evolution from
an “excellent” to an “outstanding” training program. The program proposes to accomplish these
goals through enhancement of the academic, research, personal, and professional competence
of our underrepresented minority students to better prepare them for careers in the biomedical
sciences. The specific measurable objectives of the PHSU RISE program are to provide: (1)
professional development and research skills training for PHSU RISE trainees; (2)
communication skills training for PHSU RISE trainees; and (3) team building/networking
opportunities for PHSU RISE trainees. Each of these objectives will be pursued with a balance
of continuing activities that were highly effective as well as a strategic set of new training
components that were developed to address the emerging needs of our students. The PHSU
RISE program will work in concert with the existing Ponce School of Medicine-Moffitt Cancer
Center Partnership and RCMI programs to significantly impact the overall research program by
providing a better trained student workforce to conduct the funded research projects and
provide the momentum to create new research initiatives.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9981817
- **Project number:** 5R25GM082406-13
- **Recipient organization:** PONCE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Caroline B Appleyard
- **Activity code:** R25 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $783,892
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2008-07-01 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9981817

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9981817, Ponce_Health_Sciences_University_RISE_Graduate_Training_Program. (5R25GM082406-13). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9981817. Licensed CC0.

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