Researchers and leaders from 12 Big Ten cancer centers will meet at Big Ten Conference Headquarters in Chicago on Saturday. The Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium Summit is expected to draw about 150 participants, including researchers from across the consortium and representatives from pharmaceutical and biotech companies. The University of Illinois Cancer Center and the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University are co-hosting the meeting.

The University of Illinois at Chicago has received $6.75 million from the National Institutes of Health to establish a specialized Center of Excellence in minority health and health disparities research. Called the Center for Health Equity Research, or CHER, the new UIC center will investigate how various social structures and determinants contribute to the health of marginalized groups. "The reality is that the vast majority of preventable disease in the U.S. happens in a small group of minority communities and it's not always because of biology alone. It's also because these groups are socially disadvantaged due to geography, poverty or discrimination based on race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation," said Dr. Robert Winn, associate vice chancellor for community based practice at UIC and director of the University of Illinois Cancer Center.

Applications are now open for a nationwide integrative oncology training program. The Integrative Oncology (IO) Scholars program brings together oncology professors from the Big Ten and beyond, in a free year-long course. Designed for the full spectrum of oncology care professionals, the program equips oncologists, nurses, physician assistants, physical therapists, occupational therapists, social workers, and psychologists with the knowledge and skills necessary to provide safe and evidence-based integration of complementary therapies in conventional oncology care. The course is funded by the National Cancer Institute and developed by researchers and clinicians at the University of Michigan Medical School.

With Big Ten football season in full swing, ask any Badger player, coach or fan how they would feel about working with Michigan or Minnesota on the field and you will likely get a resounding "no way." But what about working together off the field to fight cancer? That concept of "competitors on the field, partners in curing cancer" is exactly what the Big Ten Cancer Research Consortium (Big Ten CRC) is about.