MBRS-RISE and MARC U*STAR-Student Programs Have Proven Track Record of Success

By Christi Fish,
Public Relations Specialist

When Derek Mendez started working toward his bachelor’s degree in physics at UTSA, he dreamed of continuing on as a graduate student to study biophysics.  But the 21-year-old San Antonio native had struggled to pay for his undergraduate schooling, and he wasn’t sure he would be able to afford the burdens brought on by graduate education.

So when a friend of his suggested he check into UTSA’s Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement (RISE) program, part of the Minority Biomedical Research Support (MBRS) family of support programs, he was eager to see what it had to offer.

“I was referred to the RISE program by a friend.  It seemed fairly easy to apply to, so I applied,” Mendez recalls.  “It’s helped me a lot since I joined.  The program offers funding, and it opens up doors for graduate studies.  It even pays for students to attend academic conferences at least once a year.  Overall, it’s a great opportunity to get paid while gaining experience about academia.”

Undergraduate student Hector Palacios, 24, agrees.  When Palacios moved to the United States five years ago from his hometown in Mexico City, he expected to go back home to pursue his graduate education in molecular biology.

“Although I’m an American citizen, I never expected to come to the U.S. to pursue my bachelor’s degree.  Education is expensive in the U.S.”

Fortunately, however, Palacios was doing research in an HIV lab at The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, and a few of his co-workers had graduated from UTSA’s Minority Access to Research Careers (MARC) program.  They encouraged him to apply, and he was accepted into the program in January.  Immediately, he received $2,050 to help him with his spring semester tuition, and he receives an additional $922 stipend each month since enrolling in the program to help him with educational and living expenses.

But the benefits of UTSA’s MBRS and MARC programs are not strictly financial.  Many of the programs’ students have also earned acceptance into highly-respected summer research programs at other universities.  They are conducting that research now. In addition, three students – Margarita Hernandez, Erick Berdugo and Chris Pena — are preparing to begin Ph.D. programs in their areas of interest this fall at the University of Michigan, Texas A&M and UT Southwestern, respectively.  Overall, 41 RISE and MARC undergraduates have gone on to earn a Ph.D. and 36 are currently in Ph.D. programs throughout the country, including Harvard University, Dartmouth, Penn State, Cornell University, and the UT Health Science Center at San Antonio.  The program has also supports doctoral students at UTSA, of whom 20 have received their degree and 21 have yet to do so.

Currently, UTSA offers two federally-funded programs which aim to increase the number of underrepresented students who are interested in pursuing their Ph.D.s to pursue professional careers as research scientists in the biomedical sciences.  Both are funded by the MORE division of the National Institute for General Medical Sciences.  The first, the MBRS-RISE program, offers financial and professional development support for up to 40 undergraduates and 15 doctoral students pursuing training in biomedical research. Participants are from all Bachelor’s of Science degree programs in the College of Sciences, as well as the Biomedical Engineering program at the PhD level. The MARC-U*STAR program provides a monthly stipend, partial tuition payments for 15 outstanding junior and senior level undergraduates majoring in biology, chemistry, mathematics, statistics, computer science and biomedical engineering. MARC students complete additional academic and research enrichment activities and also complete and present a final MARC thesis of their research. Both RISE and MARC students are also funded to travel to national scientific conferences, attend local scientific seminars, and network with top scientists throughout the country.

UTSA’s MBRS student programs, the RISE and MARC programs, are open to Hispanic, African-American, Native American/Alaskan and Pacific Islander/Pilipino students.  In addition, the program welcomes applications from students of all races who are able to demonstrate exceptional financial need.

To learn more about UTSA’s MBRS programs or its MARC-U*STAR program, please visit the programs’ Web site at http://www.utsa.edu/mbrs/.  Or, contact Dr. Gail Taylor at gail.taylor@utsa.edu or (210) 458-5761.

4 months ago