Community & Health Excellence

Hope Leaders

The Hope Leaders program has connected community organizations with cancer researchers since 2023. Through these two-way partnerships, community voices inform research and researchers engage directly with the populations their work aims to benefit.

These grant-supported collaborations empower community organizations to share community health needs directly with University of Illinois Cancer Center researchers in the Cancer Biology and Translational Oncology research programs, collaborate on research, and then share their findings at community events.

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2026 Hope Leaders

Sisters Working It Out, founded by internal medicine physician Monica Peek, MD, MPH, MS, as a response to disparities in breast cancer outcomes, partnered with Cancer Center member Sandeep Kumar, PhD, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at UIC, and trainee Jeet Maity, PhD, a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the Kumar Lab.

Sisters Working It Out helps underserved communities access health information, support and care. Through the Hope Leaders program, they aim to build trust, increase understanding of health and research, and make sure research reflects the needs and experiences of the people it is meant to serve.

Gilda’s Club Chicago, a free support community for anyone affected by cancer, partnered with Cancer Center member Paul Grippo, PhD, an Associate Professor in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology at the College of Medicine, and trainee Dylan Kerr, in the Grippo Lab.

Gilda’s Club Chicago connects with people affected by cancer through community events, online programs, and social media. They plan to bring researchers to community events to share cancer research in ways that are easy to understand and relevant to the community.

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2025 Hope Leaders

Salvation Army Adele and Robert Stern Red Shield Center, located in Chicago’s Englewood neighborhood, partnered with Cancer Center member Natalia Nieto, PharmD, PhD, Professor of Pathology in the College of Medicine, and trainee Sai Santosh Babu Komakula, PhD, in the Nieto lab.

In April 2026, the Red Shield Center hosted an event in Englewood focused on preventing fatty liver disease and how the disease can lead to liver cancer. This was the team's first dissemination event, sharing with the community about science, their research, and how it can positively impact the community. The audience, predominantly middle- and high school-age students, was very engaged in the discussion and interested in the information shared.

Cancer Support Transformation, founded by cancer survivor and patient advocate Karen Hall, partnered with Cancer Center member John Nitiss, PhD, Professor of Pharmacology and the Assistant Dean for Research in the Retzky College of Pharmacy at UIC on the Rockford campus, and trainee Maureen McCoy, a PharmD/PhD candidate, in the Nitiss lab.

In July 2026, they hosted "Voices of Hope: A Community and Research Dialogue" on Chicago's South Side, where they shared the impact of their Hope Leaders collaboration. They explained the cancer research process and shared the story of Henrietta Lacks, who died in 1951, and whose cancer cells were the first human cells to survive and grow in a lab culture, but they were used for research without her knowledge or that of her family for decades. At the event, the team emphasized that using someone's cells for research now requires strict protocols and informed consent.

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2024 Hope Leaders

Brighton Park Neighborhood Council (BPNC), a community-based organization on Chicago's southwest side, partnered with the lab of Cancer Center member Constance Jeffery, PhD and trainee Nicole Curtis.

BPNC hosted a Health & Wellness event at Calmeca Academy in Chicago, encouraging attendees to visit vendor tables and learn about organizations and services available in the community. BPNC works predominantly with the Latino community, so the findings of their Hope Leaders collaboration were presented in Spanish. They also shared materials for people to take home to learn more about DNA.

Peer Plus Education and Training Advocates, which provides programs to address the needs of people in underserved communities who need essential health, educational, and psychosocial services, partnered with Cancer Center member Ameen Salahudeen, MD, PhD, and trainee Timur Rusanov.

They teamed up to host an event for high school students at the Tender Care Early Learning Center in the Chicago suburb of Maywood. During the event, trainees from the Salahudeen Lab provided interactive learning stations to demonstrate RNA sequencing. They also built mini organs and shared how scientists train AI to better diagnose cancer in the lungs.

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2023 Hope Leaders

Equal Hope, an organization focused on providing vital services to underserved communities, particularly breast and cervical cancer prevention and care, partnered with the lab of Cancer Center member Ekrem Emrah Er, PhD, and trainee Alexa Gajda, PhD.

Their collaboration focused on breast cancer. A "Health and Beauty for Women Brunch and Learn" was among the events where they shared their work with community audiences. They presented their work in English and Spanish.

Advocates for Community Wellness, a health promotion and disease prevention organization, partnered with the lab of Cancer Center member Jun Sun, PhD, and trainee Duncan Claypool.

Their collaboration focused on Vitamin D deficiency and breast cancer risk in African Americans. The partners presented their work at a Community Wellness Workshop.

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Questions?

For more information about the Hope Leaders Program, please email: hopeleaders@uic.edu