You are on Theme 1, page 2 of 5 in the Impact Report 2026.
The Cancer Center serves communities that have long endured higher rates of death from cancer compared to the rest of the United States. An urgency to unravel why and the drive to improve cancer outcomes for all have fueled decades of work across the Cancer Center.
Black men in Cook County are two times more likely to die from prostate cancer than men in the United States.
This disparity is one of the largest observed across all cancer sites.
A key focus of our researchers and the up-and-coming scientists we train is Vitamin D deficiency and its effect on risk for prostate and breast cancers. This work dovetails with feedback from our communities seeking dietary solutions to prevent and treat cancer.
National Cancer Institute funding supports discoveries from the lab of our Prostate Cancer Working Group co-leader Larisa Nonn, PhD, and her lab trainees. Their work supports that vitamin D deficiency leads to elevated androgens, a known driver of aggressive prostate cancer, in the prostate tissue of African American men. (Grant #: R01CA290811)
A project focused on Vitamin D deficiency and breast cancer risk is part of our Hope Leaders program, which awards two-year grants totaling $50,000 to pairings of community members and scientists in our Cancer Biology and Translational Oncology research programs to collaborate on projects. Cancer Biology Program member Jun Sun, PhD, and community partner Advocates for Community Wellness are collaborators.
One of our clinical trials, which is still enrolling patients, is the first to assess whether a compound derived from licorice root has anticancer effects that could benefit patients awaiting surgical treatment. The trial was inspired by lab discovery and patient demand.
In a 2022 study, Translational Oncology (TO) Research Program member Gnanasekar Munirathinam, PhD, and his research team proposed that the licorice root compound glycyrrhizin could be an anti-cancer agent.
That sparked an idea for fellow TO Program member Natalie Rezine, MD, a UI Health oncologist who cares for patients with prostate cancer, because she is often asked by her patients about natural supplements to treat cancer.
Community input was crucial in designing the trial that opened in 2024, in part, to better reach Black men. Prostate cancer occurs earlier in Black men, and they are more likely to die from the disease.
Cancer Center scientists share the progress in their fields as sought-after interview guests on TV, popular podcasts, and radio shows.
They engage with communities to make their scientific work more relatable, such as putting together jigsaw puzzles with men at a South Side Chicago church that pictured prostate cancer microtissue arrays to underscore the importance of human tissue samples for research.
Don’t miss this three-minute video of Translational Oncology Research Program co-lead Jeremy Johnson, PharmD, PhD, discussing his lab’s work on mangosteen fruit as inspiration for novel agents for prostate cancer.
You are on Theme 1, page 2 of 5 in the Impact Report 2026.
258: Cancer Center Members, including 127 Full Members.
More than 26,000 community members engaged in 2025.
84 percent of clinical trials participants were from underserved populations.
36 percent increase in cancer-focused grant funding since 2019.
995 cancer-relevant, peer-reviewed publications over the past six years.
3,000% Increase in Cancer Center Donors since 2019
GENERAL INFORMATION
818 South Wolcott Avenue
Chicago, IL 60612
