Advancing Competitive Biomedical Research in Puerto Rico

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Project Summary The overall goal of the Puerto Rico IDeA Network of Biomedical Research Excellence is to augment research capacity in Puerto Rico at the Lead and Network institutions by enhancement of the research infrastructure, providing support for meritorious research projects and providing research experiences for undergraduate and graduate, students, postdoctoral associates, and early career investigators. The PR-INBRE consists of 2 research-intensive institutions, University of Puerto Rico (UPR) Medical Sciences Campus (MSC) and UPR-Rio Piedras Campus, 7 Primarily Undergraduate Institutions (PUIs) (UPR-Cayey, UPR-Humacao, UPR-Mayaguez, InterAmerican University Metropolitan Campus, and Universidad Ana G Mendez- Gurabo, Carolina, and Cupey campuses), and 10 Outreach Institutions (OIs). The 17 institutions of the network serve a total of 59,692 full-time students primarily of Hispanic ethnicity, pursuing Ph.D., M.S., and B.S. degrees in STEM and biomedical disciplines. The UPR-MSC is the Lead institution of the PR-INBRE. The PR-INBRE consists of an Administrative Core at the UPR-MSC that provides administrative support and scientific assessment to the network, a Bioinformatics Resources Core (BiRC), a Centralized Research Instrumentation Core (CRI), a Science, Technology, Competency and Education Core (STCE), and a Developmental Research Projects Program (DRPP). The PR-INBRE network has made great strides in the development of the research enterprise at several network institutions during the current funding period (2015-2020). In the next cycle, we will continue to enhance professional growth of PUI early career stage faculty and we will place greater emphasis on training of postdoctoral associates through not only financial support of meritorious research proposals from this group but also increased professional exposure and networking opportunities outside of Puerto Rico. This would be accomplished through seminar presentations co-sponsored by other INBREs, and improvement of the quality of their research proposals through sustained grant-writing workshops for R15 and R21 proposals and editorial support. Scientific infrastructure and instrumentation at PUIs will also continue to be upgraded every year through a PR-INBRE small instrumentation program for teaching and research labs. In the next cycle, student support will continue to be a top priority of the PR-INBRE through research experiences in funded laboratories and mentoring with the goal of directing them to seek graduate studies and Postdoctoral positions in biomedicine. Overall, the improvements to the institutional environment of the network PUIs to date can be associated with increased research capacity as measured by the number of successful high-quality research proposals submitted to external federal and non-federal funding sources, and published manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals by the PR-INBRE PUI investigators. Continuation of this valuable and essential support for the next cycle is well justified to sustain the continuous growth and maturation of this thriving INBRE network in Puerto Rico.