Universidad Central Del Caribe, Inc.

Universidad Central Del Caribe, Inc. is a private, non-profit Hispanic-serving institution located in Bayamón, Puerto Rico, specializing in health sciences education and research with particular expertise in medical training, biomedical sciences, and healthcare professional development. Established as a tax-exempt corporate entity and registered in SAM.gov since April 2002, Universidad Central Del Caribe serves underserved communities in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean region through its comprehensive educational and research programs. The institution functions as both a federal contractor and grant recipient, leveraging federal funding to support its mission of advancing medical education, addiction medicine training, mental and behavioral health services, and biomedical research initiatives that address critical public health needs in medically underserved populations.

Universidad Central Del Caribe's federal contract activity has been modest and focused exclusively on supporting educational initiatives through the Department of the Navy. The institution received three firm fixed-price delivery orders from the Navy between September 2024 and December 2025, totaling approximately $62,783 across contracts for tuition and fees and the Health Professional Scholarship Program (HPSP). These delivery orders, which carry no set-aside designations, support medical training and educational programs aligned with the Navy's commitment to developing healthcare professionals for military-related medical education initiatives. The contract values reflect the institution's historical pattern of engagement with military-related agencies, which has primarily focused on providing educational and training support rather than large-scale procurement activities. Universidad Central Del Caribe functions as a prime contractor on these awards with direct relationships to the Department of the Navy, demonstrating its capacity to serve as a reliable partner for federal educational support services.

Universidad Central Del Caribe's primary federal engagement occurs through an extensive portfolio of prime grant awards and subgrant partnerships spanning multiple federal agencies and health-related programs. The institution serves as a prime recipient of project grants and cooperative agreements from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), National Institutes of Health (NIH) divisions including the National Cancer Institute and National Institute of General Medical Sciences, the Federal Office of Rural Health Policy, and the Office of Adolescent Health. Major prime grant initiatives include an HRSA-funded Addiction Medicine Fellowship expansion program ($1,186,438 over five years ending June 2030), a SAMHSA-supported Providers Clinical Support System for Universities program addressing substance and opioid use disorders in medical education, an integrated substance use disorder training program, a technology-enabled learning collaborative program, mental health awareness and community response initiatives, cancer research support through the Puerto Rico Cancer Research Meeting, and adolescent sexual health and pregnancy prevention programming in Puerto Rico. Beyond its prime grants, Universidad Central Del Caribe participates as a subgrant recipient on multiple federal awards, including partnerships with the University of Kentucky Research Foundation, Research Foundation for Mental Hygiene, Inc., University of Miami, and University of Texas at Austin for projects spanning addiction technology transfer centers, rural opioid technical assistance, multiple sclerosis genetics research, and Hurricane Maria disaster recovery efforts. These grants collectively demonstrate the institution's significant role in advancing healthcare workforce development, behavioral health services, biomedical research, and community health initiatives, particularly focused on serving Hispanic and underrepresented populations in Puerto Rico and the Caribbean region.