Researchers & Clinicians

Illinois Cancer Health Research (I-CHER) Center

The Illinois Cancer Health Research (I-CHER) Center's Fourth Annual Research Symposium was an impactful day, featuring presentations on collaborative, solutions-based research done in partnership with community organizations, the University of Illinois Cancer Center, and the UI Health Mile Square Health Center to improve cancer health outcomes for all.

Hosted at Mile Square, the event on January 16, 2026, brought together community partners, scientists, community advisory board members, clinicians, nurses and others. 

The I-CHER Center was made possible with funding from both the American Cancer Society (ACS) and support from the Cancer Center. The I-CHER Center sits within the Cancer Center at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). The Cancer Center is part of UIC's academic health enterprise, UI Health, which includes Mile Square, a Federally Qualified Health Center with a network of clinics. 

About I-CHER Center

The (I-CHER) Center is a solutions-oriented consortium of healthcare researchers and clinicians charged with improving outcomes in communities disproportionately affected by cancer.

Mission

Maximize cancer health equity in racial, ethnic and marginalized populations in Cook County, Illinois

Goals

• Conduct research that is collaborative, solutions-based, and sustainable
• Diversify the workforce

Our Funding

In the initial round of funding, ACS awarded more than $16 million in grants to establish Cancer Health Research Centers (CHERCs) at four Minority Serving Institutions: UIC, University of Arizona, Morehouse School of Medicine and Howard University. Each institution received a four-year grant of $4.08 million, beginning January 2022.

The goal of this grant is to implement solution-based research to address cancer health disparities and help achieve health equity and reduce cancer mortality.

The I-CHER Center is funding six subaward projects to research scientists, clinician-scientists and a basic science lab postdoctoral fellow, in addition to six pilot grant projects for early career faculty or postdoctoral fellows.

Publications

• Hippalgaonkar N, Nguyen RH-T, Cohn EB, Horowitz J, Waite AW, Mersha T, Sandoval C, Khan S, Salum K, Thomas P, Murphy AM, Brent B, Coleman L, Khosla P, Hoskins K, Henderson V, Carnahan L (2024). Are We the Problem? A Call to Action for Addressing Institutional Challenges to Engaging Community Partners in Research. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health. 21(2):236. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph2102023
• Smith PD, Murray M, Bailey T, Peterson CE, Bekoe O, Weatherspoon DJ (2023). A community-based participatory protocol to improving communication with Black men about oral and pharyngeal cancers: Research protocol. PLoS ONE 18(8):e0288478. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0288478
• Smith PD, Weatherspoon D, Bailey T, Peterson C, Murray M, Bekoe O, Shadamoro A, Osazuwa-Peters N, Nu-Tall K (2023). An exploration of Black men’s attitudes and experiences communicating with dentists about oral and pharyngeal cancer. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health. 20(19):6859. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20196859
• Torres P, Bujanda C, Arroyo J, Lucio A, Pan V, Ganschow P, Andersen K, Charchalac-Zapeta C, Barragan M, Neuschler E, Kim SJ, Chen Z, Martinez M, Madrid S, Stackhouse N, Gastala NM, McClellan S, Molina Y, The “Latines Lideres En Salud (LaLiSa)” study: Rationale and design, Contemporary Clinical Trials, Volume 146, 2024, 107689, ISSN 1551-7144, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cct.2024.107689
• Henderson V, Carnahan L, Cohn EB, Waite AW, Mersha T, Block R, Kolpack M, Sommers J, Salum K, Hoskins KF, Nguyen R. "The more I know, the more you know" Using culturally responsive marketing strategies to develop tools that increase awareness about clinical trials among Black communities. BMC Public Health. 2025 Sep 1;25(1):3003. doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-24194-x. PMID: 40890722; PMCID: PMC12400619, https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12889-025-24194-x