# Plan to Enhance Diversity > **NIH NIH P30** · UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO · 2024 · $331,808 ## Abstract PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT - PLAN TO ENHANCE DIVERSITY Longstanding national efforts aimed at increasing diversity in the biomedical workforce have had only incremental impact. Similarly, we recognize that the racial demographics of the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center (UCCCC) are not reflective of either our catchment area or the national population demographics. We are fundamentally committed to changing this characteristic, and to this end, in 2021, UCCCC established the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) and launched a 5-year DEI Strategic Plan that aligns to the Plan to Enhance Diversity (PED) Program and focuses on infrastructure, people, climate, and community. The goal of the UCCCC PED is to achieve the full potential of diversity in our cancer workforce by actualizing meaningful and sustainable systemic cultural change, instituting a career advancement cohort model, establishing strong community networks, and training transformative diverse scholars who will reduce the burden of cancer. Central to the PED Program is synergizing with Community Outreach and Engagement Component and the Cancer Research Training and Education Coordination (CRTEC) Component to build bidirectional partnerships with our local communities because engaging diverse groups in our basic, clinical, translational, and population research activities accelerates our discoveries and impacts communities in our catchment area. Along with CRTEC, we are establishing training and mentoring opportunities to encourage students, post-doctoral fellows, and faculty from diverse backgrounds to expand the pipeline of cancer researchers. Guided by a logic model, the UCCCC will operationalize three aims to achieve the PED goals: (1) building environmental capacity to enhance diversity by implementing processes and policies focused on climate and recruitment in the cancer center; (2) developing career advancement capacity to increase underrepresented minorities and women in UCCCC leadership; and (3) establishing community networks to enhance diversity of cancer center staff, members, and leaders. To accelerate the impact of the PED, the UCCCC has already invested in structural and personnel infrastructure, new initiatives, dedicated financial resources, and fully integrated DEI into all UCCCC programs and the executive leadership. PED will establish criteria for monitoring and evaluating progress in diversity. Transformative impact in DEI requires bold steps; the UCCCC has invested in infrastructure to support transformative change in our Cancer Center and the PED provides a clear path forward for actualizing the full potential of diversity, equity, and inclusion. ## Key facts - **NIH application ID:** 10845093 - **Project number:** 2P30CA014599-48 - **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO - **Principal Investigator:** Iris L Romero - **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.) - **Funding institute:** NIH - **Fiscal year:** 2024 - **Award amount:** $331,808 - **Award type:** 2 - **Project period:** 1997-09-01 → 2029-03-31 ## Primary source NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10845093 ## Citation > US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10845093, Plan to Enhance Diversity (2P30CA014599-48). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10845093. Licensed CC0. --- *[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*