Applications are now open for 2025 Hope Leaders grants, the University of Illinois Cancer Center’s innovative program pairing community partners and cancer biologists to build genuine bidirectional relationships between scientists and communities.
Interested community partners and cancer biologists are strongly encouraged to attend an informational webinar scheduled for January. The deadline to apply for 2025 Hope Leaders grants is February 14.
Hope Leaders Cancer Biology Webinar
January 8, 2025, 1 – 2 p.m. via Zoom. Click the button below to register.
Hope Leaders Community Partner Webinar
January 9, 2025, 1 – 2 p.m. via Zoom. Click the button below to register.
About Hope Leaders
The Hope Leaders program, run by the Cancer Center’s Office of Community Engagement and Health Equity, empowers community organizations to communicate the health needs of the communities they represent directly to Cancer Center researchers. Additionally, it allows researchers and their labs to engage community partners about projects that may ultimately benefit local diverse populations, while giving community partners opportunities to provide input about experimental design, processes and findings.
Apply for Hope Leaders Grant Awards
Two community partner organizations each receive a $20,000 ($10,000 in the first year; $10,000 in the second year dependent on study progress). Those eligible to apply are community-based organizations, faith-based agencies or public agencies with a strong history of serving underserved communities in Cook County, including leading events and programs that address health equity.
Two cancer biologists each receive $30,000 ($20,000 in the first year; $10,000 in the second year dependent on study progress). Applications from cancer biologists must include one full members of the Cancer Center Cancer Biology Research Program and one trainee (undergraduate, graduate or postdoctoral).
Past Hope Leaders
The inaugural 2023 Hope Leaders cohort is the community organizations Equal Hope and Advocates for Community Wellness, along with Cancer Center members and researchers Ekrem Emrah Er, PhD, and Jun Sun, PhD.
The 2024 cohort is the lab of Cancer Center member Andrei Karginov, PhD, partnered with Peer Plus Education and Training Advocates, and the lab of Cancer Center member Constance Jeffery, PhD, paired with the Brighton Park Neighborhood Council.