For the past decade, the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine Office of Research, Innovation and Scholarly Endeavors (RISE) has played a key role in supporting medical student research and scholarly development.
Founded in 2015, RISE is a central hub for student research, providing guidance and support at every step of the research process. Whether developing initial ideas, navigating the Institutional Review Board, analyzing data or preparing manuscripts and conference presentations, the RISE team has devoted itself to helping students succeed as scholars.
Thousands of medical students have now worked with RISE, reflecting how deeply research has become woven into the educational fabric of the Morsani College of Medicine.
Rahul Mhaskar, PhD, MPH, faculty director of the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine Office of Research, Innovation and Scholarly Endeavors (RISE).
鈥淭he RISE office was designed from the outset as a comprehensive 'one-stop shop' for student research. The office is just starting to scratch the surface of what we鈥檙e capable of, and we鈥檙e going to continue to raise the bar on student research,鈥� said Rahul Mhaskar, PhD, MPH, faculty director of RISE. 鈥淚鈥檓 very proud to be part of helping to bring value to our medical students鈥� education, and I cannot wait to see what happens over the next 10 years.鈥�
Before RISE, student research was decentralized, with limited and non-structured support for research services. It led to a growing student demand for broader access to research funding and opportunities to present their research at conferences. That demand led to the creation of the RISE Office in 2015 鈥� designed from the outset as a comprehensive 鈥渙ne-stop shop鈥� for student research.
鈥淢edical students are among the most competitive learners anywhere, and they want to match into the most competitive residencies,鈥� said Bryan Bognar, MD, MPH, vice dean of the USF Health Department of Medical Education. 鈥�911爆料网 are meeting that need by continuing to enhance the RISE infrastructure.鈥�
The program has shown that students who participate in research become strong 鈥渃onnoisseurs of evidence鈥� when they become physicians, with a deeper understanding of how knowledge is generated and how evidence-based medicine is applied.
Under Dr. Mhaskar's leadership, RISE has grown rapidly, establishing new initiatives, streamlining processes, creating new student research opportunities, and expanding the college's overall research capacity. For example, in 2020, the office launched Specialty-Specific Research Outcomes Teams (SSROTs), a vertical-learning model that pairs faculty-designed research projects with medical students based on shared interests. This collaboration has provided students with earlier and more structured access to high-impact scholarly work while increasing the number of students presenting at national and international meetings and authoring peer-reviewed publications.
Dr. Mhaskar compares this type of learning model to an automobile assembly line. Every person in the assembly line has a vital role to play for the final product to be the best it can be.
鈥淭his model allows everyone who is involved to work from their strengths, allowing for a much stronger finished product as it pertains to research,鈥� Dr. Mhaskar said.
From its earliest days, RISE was shaped by student feedback. The office鈥檚 founding administrative team, led by Roberta Collins and Erin May, who is now the office鈥檚 students鈥� program manager, worked closely with students to identify what services were most needed to make research more accessible.
One of those early voices was Robert Ackerman, MD 鈥�17, now an anesthesiologist at Moffitt Cancer Center. Serving as student body president at the time and having prior research experience as an undergraduate at USF, Dr. Ackerman helped articulate what students needed most.
鈥淭he goal was simple: make resources easy to find and simple to use,鈥� he said.
As an early supporter of the office, Dr. Ackerman is proud of his role in developing the program and sees its growth as mirroring the growth of the college itself.
鈥淎t first, only a handful of students had active research projects,鈥� Dr. Ackerman said. 鈥淣ow it seems like every student does. RISE doesn鈥檛 get credit on any citations or publications, but their efforts have led to a lot of academic and research success.鈥�
For Dania Ramos, a second-year medical student and student research chair, RISE has been integral to her journey since her first day of medical school. Her research interests focus on improving patient outcomes in cardiothoracic surgery and hepatobiliary surgical oncology, work she can pursue with support from the RISE team.
鈥淭he office genuinely wants all of us to match where we want to be and is very realistic about what we need to do to get there,鈥� said Ramos, who hopes to pursue a career as a cardiothoracic surgeon. 鈥淩ISE has fueled my passion for research and ensures my classmates and I have everything we need to be successful.鈥�
As RISE celebrates its 10th anniversary, the office remains committed to its core missions: increasing access to research, positioning students for the strongest residencies, and preparing future physicians to leave with science and evidence.
Dr. Bognar describes RISE as one of the 鈥渃rown jewels of the Morsani College of Medicine.鈥�
鈥淭he office not only reflects the growing research prowess of the college, but I think it鈥檚 helping to propel it,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he team at RISE puts their heart and soul into this program and are the college鈥檚 unsung heroes in many ways."
RISE by the numbers (as of December 2025):
First author abstracts: 1,332
First author publications: 618
Awards: 611
Other publications: 368
