Objectives/Goals: 1. To develop UgS and UgF in CTR with IA in PR. 2. To equip UgS and UgF with the necessary knowledge, skills, and mentoring and provide hands-on experiences for their academic and professional development. 3. To provide UgS and UgF with dissemination opportunities. Methods/Study Population: Main approaches: Restructure the Center for Research Education and Science Communication Opportunities (CRESCO), hub to provide support in CTR skills, statistics, scientific writing, and access to library resources; and organize/launch a training program in CTR to support student development in CTR. Main strategies: peer-mentoring with graduate students (GS), faculty (F), and health professionals (HP); a pilot project (PiP) program to offer UgS, GS, F, and HP hands-on experiences with participation in up-to-date research in CTR under the mentorship of a principal investigator-mentor; organization/offering the Title V Annual Symposium in CTR as a dissemination platform; and acquisition of supplies/equipment to support the research and infrastructure to the library and academic programs. Results/Anticipated Results: CRESCO: Acquired 2-96’ interactive monitors and refurbished 7 study rooms with technology, boosting distance learning. Developed a Web portal, offered 27,249 consultations, and 692 attended CTR workshops. Training program: INTD 5998 course had 74 students (64 UPR-MSC and 10 from other campuses/institutions). 190 Orientations offered to Academic Program in Health Sciences (APHS), reaching 36 departmental chairs (dc) and 129 UgS from 10 UPR campuses, and 23 dc and 2 UgS from other universities. Healthcare associations approved one Continuing Education Module, and two were submitted for approval. PiP: 32 PiP teams (32 primary researchers, 32 UgF, 42 UgS, and 21 GS) from 9 institutions. Presented 38 oral/poster presentations (27 PiPs, 11 Collaborators) and published 4 peer-reviewed publications. Discussion/Significance of Impact: The project strengthened CTR research/education through CRESCO facilities, consultations, and training. The INTD 5998 course, APHS orientations, and PiP teams (from diverse campuses/institutions), expanded participation and hands-on experience, yielding presentations, publications, UgS seeking graduate studies, and real-world impact.
García et al. (2026) studied this question.