The Chicago Cancer Health Equity Collaborative (ChicagoCHEC) will kick off the inaugural Summer Research Fellow program on June 20 with the participation of one Northeastern Illinois University alumna and three current students. The ChicagoCHEC Research Fellows program is a comprehensive paid eight-week summer learning experience for undergraduate and post-baccalaureate students from Northeastern, Northwestern University, University of Illinois at Chicago, and the City Colleges of Chicago (CCC).
The four Northeastern students are:
- Christy AlBazboz (B.S. ’16 Biology)
- Esperance Urayeneza, Biology
- Omar Hashlamoun, Biology
- Da In Lee, Biology
Northeastern also is sponsoring City College student Jessica Delgado.
The fellows program is focused on the development of academic, technical and professional skills in preparation for careers in social, behavioral and biomedical research and in health care. Through immersion experiences, group projects, journal clubs and one-on-one, group and near-peer mentoring, ChicagoCHEC Research Fellows will gain important knowledge, skills and networks for their journey to become researchers and health care professionals who can bring diverse perspectives and experiences to advance the nation’s work toward cancer health equity.
At the culmination of the eight weeks, fellows will have learned fundamental research practices and methodologies, pertinent research content topics, social contexts for health inequity across the cancer continuum, and critical professional development practices and networks.
The program leverages the expertise of leading scholars and cancer researchers, health professionals, institutional leadership and community leaders across Chicago taking part as guest lecturers, project mentors and site visit hosts.
The creation of ChicagoCHEC was announced on Oct. 23, 2015, with the support of a five-year, $17.4 million grant from the National Cancer Institute (NCI).
The effort is being led by community-oriented physician-scientists and researchers: Melissa Simon, M.D., George H. Gardner, M.D., Professor of Clinical Gynecology in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine; Robert Winn, M.D., Associate Vice President for Community-Based Practice at the University of Illinois Hospital & Health Sciences Systems, professor of Medicine, UIC College of Medicine and Director, University of Illinois Cancer Center; Christina Ciecierski, Ph.D., associate professor of economics at Northeastern Illinois University; and Moira Stuart, Ph.D., associate professor of health, physical education, recreation and athletics at Northeastern.
