Research Centers in Minority Institutions (RCMI)

UTSA’s RCMI program is supported by a $12.6 million grant from the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) (support transferred from the National Center for Research Resources (NCRR) effective December 23, 2011) at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to enhance the research capacity and infrastructure at minority-serving universities that offer doctorates in health sciences. The RCMI program has contributed significantly to UTSA’s expansion of research capabilities through the creation of advanced research core facilities that are available to all UTSA researchers, the recruitment of outstanding biomedical faculty members, and support for faculty development research projects.

In 2005, UTSA established the RCMI Cajal Neuroscience Research Center (CNRC) that evolved into the UTSA Neurosciences Institute, one of the most dynamic groups of collaborative researchers in South Texas. RCMI support helped develop the Computational Biology Initiative (CBI), which fosters the use of state-of-the-art core computational and analytic facilities to advance bioscience research in San Antonio. The UTSA Proteomics Core and the Advanced Imaging Center were also created through RCMI support. Additionally, the RCMI program has helped UTSA obtain other important federal grants, such as the Specialized Neuroscience Research Program (SNRP).

In 2010, UTSA’s RCMI Center for Interdisciplinary Health Research (CIHR) was created to provide advanced research facilities and training for UTSA’s researchers to become competitive in basic and translational health research.