Researchers & Clinicians

Illinois Cancer Health Research (I-CHER) Center

The Illinois Cancer Health Research (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

The American Cancer Society (ACS) awarded more than $16 million in grants to establish Cancer Health Research Centers (CHERCs) at four Minority Serving Institutions (MSI): University of Illinois Chicago 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 addressing cancer health disparities to help achieve health equity and reduce cancer mortality.

The I-CHER Center at UIC, which sits within the University of Illinois Cancer Center and is made possible with funding from both ACS and support from the Cancer Center, is funding six subaward projects to research scientists, clinician-scientists and a basic science lab postdoctoral fellow, in addition to eight one-year pilot grant projects for early career faculty or postdoctoral fellows.

Publications

1. 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/ijerph21020236
2. 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
3. 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
4. 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