PRI-PHSU T32 Graduate Training Program in Biomedical Sciences

About This Grant

The proposed T32 program at the Ponce Research Institute–Ponce Health Sciences University (PRI-PHSU) is a rigorous, mentor-intensive doctoral training initiative designed to expand the geographic and institutional footprint of NIGMS-supported biomedical research. Situated in Puerto Rico, an IDeA-eligible region with no current NIH T32 predoctoral training programs, this initiative addresses longstanding needs in biomedical research workforce development by anchoring high-impact training infrastructure at a compact, research-active institution with a proven record of excellence under the prior R25/T32 mechanisms. The program’s mission is to prepare a new generation of biomedical scientists with deep methodological rigor, interdisciplinary fluency, and the ability to contribute across cancer biology, neuroscience, infectious disease, chronic disease modeling, and translational medicine. Training is structured around a milestone-driven curriculum, NIH-style proposal development, reproducibility- centered research, and embedded professional development. T32 support begins in Year 1 of the PhD program, with each trainee appointed for two years. The program will support 10 trainees annually. Faculty mentors represent five divisions across the basic biomedical sciences, each with active NIH funding, cross-sector collaborations, and a strong publication and mentoring track record. Career development is scaffolded through individual development plans, peer mentoring, proposal writing, externships, and a centralized dashboard that supports competitive transitions to postdoctoral research or biomedical careers. The program’s SMART objectives include reducing time-to-degree, increasing publication and fellowship submission rates, ensuring training in responsible conduct of research, and placing at least 75% of graduates in research-intensive roles within 12 months of graduation. Evaluation is multi-tiered and includes internal advisory review, external benchmarking, and a 15-year longitudinal tracking system, while dissemination activities span peer-reviewed publications, regional media, podcasts, public health forums, and national training networks. This T32 program will institutionalize a high-performance, regionally grounded training ecosystem that produces adaptable, rigorously trained biomedical scientists with national competitiveness and translational relevance.