# Research Education Core

> **NIH NIH U54** · NORTHEASTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY · 2023 · $153,367

## Abstract

RESEARCH EDUCATION CORE – ABSTRACT
The overall objective of the Chicago Cancer Health Equity Collaborative (ChicagoCHEC) Research Education
Core (REC) is to increase the number of students from underrepresented populations engaged in cancer
research by fostering meaningful research, education, and community engaged experiences which link faculty
and students of the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU), and the Robert
H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University (NU-LCC). For this Core, we define students
as high school through postdoctoral fellows. Between 2016 – 2019, the REC launched research education
experiences bringing together diverse students across the Chicagoland area, developed curricula introducing
students to the science of cancer disparities, and built robust networks with high school and local community
college students to encourage their entry into REC programs. In that period, the REC provided structured
summer research education experiences through the ChicagoCHEC Research Fellows (CHEC Fellows)
Program to 65 students from minority and underrepresented backgrounds. The CHEC Fellows Program is an
intensive 8-week summer program that introduces students to a breadth of cancer health disparities research
topics and to the work of leading cancer researchers, provides hands-on engagement with community partners,
and builds professional skills as a foundation for lifelong learning. In this renewal, we seek to sustain the
successes of the CHEC Fellows Program and add programming to further student entry into cancer research
trajectories and further meet the needs of students within ChicagoCHEC sponsored Projects. Thus, the CHEC
Fellows Program will be complemented by development of new career readiness and career development
supports, and an expansion of ChicagoCHEC Laboratory Experiences and Programs (LEaP), which matches
students, including graduates of the CHEC Fellows Program, to intensive, one-on-one mentored immersion
experiences in cancer research laboratories. A diverse and exceptional tri-institutional team of cancer research
faculty has been assembled to lead the REC in achieving its specific aims, which are to: (1) develop curriculum
and support professional development opportunities to increase Chicago area undergraduate interest and
readiness in entering the cancer research career pipeline; (2) refine and sustain the CHEC Fellows and LEaP
Programs for diverse undergraduate students recruited from NEIU, UIC, NU, and City Colleges of Chicago; (3)
link underrepresented students (undergraduates, graduate/medical students and postdoctoral fellows) to
mentored cancer research experiences within ChicagoCHEC Projects and provide career development support;
and (4) implement continuous tracking and program evaluation. Initiatives of the ChicagoCHEC REC will directly
introduce students to cancer research and enhance their capacity to seek out opportunities that will enab...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10696248
- **Project number:** 5U54CA202995-09
- **Recipient organization:** NORTHEASTERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Nabil Kahouadji
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $153,367
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2015-09-24 → 2025-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10696248

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10696248, Research Education Core (5U54CA202995-09). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10696248. Licensed CC0.

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