Deaf and hard-of-hearing (DHH) scientists are severely underrepresented in the nation’s biomedical
research workforce. In 2018 only 0.38% of all PIs on NIH awards reported a hearing disability, yet
hearing-loss prevalence for US adults ages 20-69 is 31.1%. DHH undergraduates face many barriers to
pursuing advanced research degrees, including poor mentoring, lack of DHH scientist role models, poor
self-efficacy skills, poor science identity, and community disincentives. Further, DHH people vary widely
in communication modalities, language skills, and cultural identities with respect to hearing culture. As a
result, DHH STEM students often encounter cultural stigmas and communication barriers that limit their
access to mentored undergraduate research opportunities in biomedical laboratories. The primary
mission of the proposed RIT U-RISE Scientists-in-Training Program for Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing
Undergraduates (RIT U-RISE) is to diversify the biomedical research workforce by preparing 8 DHH
undergraduates annually to enter biomedically related PhD programs at research-intensive universities.
A secondary mission is to disseminate evidence-based best practices to scientists at other institutions to
make biomedical research communities-of-practice more accessible and inclusive for DHH students.
There are more than 1100 DHH students at RIT (6% of the student body). RIT institutional data shows
that DHH baccalaureate students disproportionately gravitate to non-research biomedically related
graduate programs despite persistence rates, graduation rates, and academic achievement on par with
hearing students. To counter this trend, RIT U-RISE trainees will participate in evidence-based co-
curricular enrichment and cohort building activities, specialized research ethics, safety, reproducibility,
and science writing training, and intensive mentored research training in culturally supportive labs at RIT
and research-intensive universities. Trainees will also present at national conferences. An individual
development plan (IDP) based on targeted core scientific and professional competencies will guide each
trainee’s program. Enhanced advising, monitoring, tutoring, and communication access services will
ensure trainees have the psychosocial, academic, and institutional support to succeed in entering PhD
programs. RIT U-RISE will provide cultural competency training for mentors and other faculty that fosters
institutional change. Best practices for mentoring DHH PhD-bound undergraduates will be disseminated
nationally. Fifteen RIT U-RISE trainees are expected to graduate by the end of the grant cycle and at
least 8 to enter biomedically related PhD research programs within three years of graduation. RIT has
the extensive DHH community and institutional resources, partnerships with post-graduate training
programs at research-intensive universities, and rich administrative experience and infrastructure from
the RIT-RISE program (2017-2022) to ensure the success of the RIT U-RISE program.
