Eat Right, Be Right
Tuesday, July 22, 2025
The University of Illinois Cancer Center hosted “Eat Right, Be Right,” an event showcasing how healthy eating can help prevent cancer.
Hosted by the Cancer Center Community Engagement and Health Equity (CEHE) Office, the event was part of a pilot project with a goal to reach community members, including Black men, to help increase awareness about how dietary changes can improve overall health and quality of life, while helping to lower cancer risk.
The July 17 event at The Quarry in Chicago’s South Shore neighborhood featured a healthy cooking demonstration by Chef Brian Alston and presentations by Cancer Center members Lisa Tussing-Humphreys, PhD, and Christine Jovanovic, PhD, who shared their diet-and-cancer-related research. Tussing-Humphreys, co-leader of the Cancer Center Cancer Prevention and Control Research Program, studies the complex relationship between environmental exposures, including diet, and colorectal cancer risk disparities, while Jovanovic, a Research Scientist, focuses on prostate cancer and diet.
People at the event also took part in chair yoga/breathwork and a gentle stretching session provided by Rich Rootz, along with conversations on mental health and emotional intelligence.
Attendees enjoyed tasting samples from the cooking demonstration, and then left with the ingredients to make healthy meals at home. Chicago’s T. Castro Produce provided 100 bags of fresh vegetables, fruits and other ingredients. Participants also were provided a list of community food resources.
The project was funded with $15,000 through the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) Office of the Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs community-based practice funds. The Cancer Center is part of UIC and its academic health enterprise UI Health.
