Pancreatic cancer awareness was the focus of a “Chat & Chew” hosted by University of Illinois Cancer Center community partner Peer Plus Education and Training Advocates and featuring Cancer Center member Paul Grippo, PhD.
About 25 cancer survivors, patient advocates, researchers, physicians and community members attended the breakfast event in Chicago’s South Side Bronzeville neighborhood. There were six pastors from neighborhood churches in attendance as well.
Grippo is heading up a project, along with Peoria, Illinois-based OSF Healthcare, to identify current health initiatives that exist in communities around pancreatic cancer awareness and to discuss the development of potential options for early screening. He spoke about cancer health inequities and how he is working to combat them to improve cancer outcomes for all. He also discussed the importance of clinical trials. Grippo is Associate Professor in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at UIC.
Phyllis L. Rodgers, Founder and CEO of Peer Plus, has partnered with Grippo to help foster his community outreach for the project. A valued Cancer Center partner, the mission of Peer Plus is to identify underserved populations in the Midwest area and provide culturally sensitive programs that address the multifaceted issues of people in need of essential health, educational and psychosocial services. Peer Plus also provides non-medical education, training and related workshops.
At the event with Grippo were current and former students of the Bridges to the Baccalaureate (B2B) program in his lab. The program is for City Colleges of Chicago students, underrepresented in the biomedical workforce, who enroll at UIC and, while they complete their degree program, they also participate as biomedical researchers on projects involving cancer biology and population health studies with a focus on healthcare disparities.
Jordon Shaw, currently a B2B student and member of the Grippo Lab, talked about the importance of researchers working to find a cure for pancreatic cancer. Former Grippo Lab member and B2B student Adonis Coleman, also talked about the importance of research and the importance of having Black and other people of color working in the healthcare field. Coleman graduated from the UIC College of Nursing in May 2023, and is currently working as a Cardiac ICU Nurse at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.2023, and is currently working as a Cardiac ICU Nurse at Northwestern Memorial Hospital.
