U-RISE at Medgar Evers College
Project Summary
With the ever-changing landscape of diversity as we know it, acceleration in efforts to ensure equity in
higher education, particularly STEM research, and education, becomes more imperative. Medgar Evers
College (MEC) of the City University of New York was established to anchor quality, affordable higher
education for primarily Central Brooklyn residents who often face urban challenges. Approximately 85%
of MEC’s 4,000 students are Brooklyn residents, and approximately 90% identify as Black or African
American. Reflecting their ambition, intellectual curiosity, and awareness of employment trends, MEC
students gravitate toward science-related majors. In 2014 MEC was awarded its first NIGMS RISE
award, 5R25 GM105553 (2014-2020). This application broadens the focus of the first award (supporting
students only in the biological sciences, the largest STEM department in the School of Science and
Allied Health) to the broader biomedical sciences by providing support for junior and senior
undergraduates (12 per year; 6 Junior and 6 Senior) majoring in Environmental Science, Mathematics,
Computer Science, and Biology. It further institutionalizes multiple successful undergraduate biomedical
research courses, workshops, and activities developed for U-RISE at MEC Scholars to accompany
authentic research experiences that help increase their credentials in pursuing the biomedical Ph.D.
Lastly, it leverages and supports a new institutional Honors program to identify and support freshman
and sophomore STEM majors with authentic research experiences that engage early interest in
research careers through its reorganized and formal U-RISE Apprentice Program. The new efforts focus
on expanding initial success in recruitment, training, engagement, and support. Together, with newly
formed research collaborations at more than 5 New York City research-intensive institutions, and a
culture of support for diversity and inclusion, these efforts will facilitate an increase in the number of U-
RISE at MEC Scholars who directly matriculate into Ph.D. (or M.D./Ph.D.) programs in the biomedical
sciences.