Community Outreach and Engagement

Our community partnerships and programs aim to identify and address barriers to cancer health equity and improve outcomes in traditionally underserved neighborhoods. Working together with new and existing organizations in our communities, our efforts include:

• Expanding awareness and improving access to cancer services, treatment and clinical trials
• Providing up-to-date information and community-based screening programs to reduce cancer risk and increase early detection
• Identifying the social and economic challenges in underserved neighborhoods to guide our efforts
• Developing educational resources to improve health literacy and raise awareness about follow-up and survivorship care
• Advocating for public policy changes to ease the burden of cancer
• Supporting healthy lifestyle changes to reduce cancer risk

We are grateful for our community partnerships and collaborations, including:

• Chicago Cancer Initiative (CCI): A collaborative effort to eliminate cancer health disparities and improve outcomes on every block of the Chicago Metropolitan Area by engaging community, philanthropic and community leaders.
• Chicago Cancer Health Equity Collaborative (ChicagoCHEC): A National Cancer Institute-funded initiative, ChicagoCHEC enables Lurie Cancer Center, University of Illinois at Chicago, and Northeastern Illinois University to collaborate with many of the city’s underserved communities to foster meaningful cancer research, education, training and community engagement.
• Illinois Comprehensive Cancer Control Plan: A state-based initiative funded by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention that enables Lurie Cancer Center to work in collaboration with organizations throughout the state to develop a cancer control plan focused on the types of cancer unique to local communities that have the highest burden.

Education the public, patients and caregivers is an integral part of our mission. Each year, Lurie Cancer Center conducts a wide range of public education programs and survivorship events. In addition, more than 4,000 people participate in our annual Cancer Survivors’ Celebration Walk & 5K.

• Spring 2024
• Winter 2024
• Fall 2023

Lurie Cancer Center collaborates with institutions and organizations worldwide to advance cancer prevention, treatment and education. Our global research efforts include:

• Lurie Cancer Center was awarded a U54 grant from the NCI to establish a consortium conducted as a partnership with the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine in the U.S., and the University of Lagos and University of Jos in Nigeria. The consortium will focus on HIV-associated cancers in Nigeria.