The Ignite Science Initiative was launched in 2014 by Abel Baerga, PhD, Gualberto Rodriguez, Benjamin Torres, MSc, and Eduardo Canto, MD, all Colegio San Ignacio alumni, and Ritmo Aponte, then Principal of Colegio San Ignacio, with the goal of promoting interest in the sciences among high school students in Puerto Rico by providing hands-on advanced laboratory experiences and capacitating high school teachers to provide similar experiences in their classrooms. As part of the Initiative, the Ignite Biotech Summer Program was inaugurated in 2015.
The summer program would not be possible without the support provided by the Amgen Foundation, Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola, Hospital Auxilio Mutuo, Ferraiuoli, LLC, the Molecular Biology Science Building of the University of Puerto Rico, and Xsquare Capital, LLC.