Major Project Links

The University of Chicago (UC) Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) in Breast Cancer brings together a multidisciplinary team of basic, clinical, and population science investigators to design innovative research and use a global strategy to reduce worldwide suffering from breast cancer. Our program is 1 of only 11 NCI funded Breast Cancer SPOREs in the United States. The UC SPORE aims to develop genetic and imaging-based approaches to the prevention, detection, and treatment of breast cancer in women who are at increased risk of developing an aggressive form of malignancy at a young age. Since this type of breast cancer disproportionately affects young women of African ancestry, a portion of the Breast SPORE tackles the global issue of health disparities among various ethnic and racial groups.

 

The Ludwig Center at the University of Chicago brings together researchers from various areas of expertise, including molecular and cell biology, bioinformatics, chemistry, genetics, imaging and medicine to dissect the basic mechanisms of metastasis using sophisticated, state-of-the-art approaches.  Ultimately, the Center aims to further our understanding of what fundamentally controls cancer’s deadly spread and translate laboratory concepts to novel therapeutics to treat and prevent metastasis. Co-Directing the Center are Geoffrey Greene, Ph.D., Virginia and D. K. Ludwig Professor, Ben May Department for Cancer Research, and Ralph Weichselbaum, M.D., Daniel K. Ludwig Professor and Chairman, Department of Radiation & Cellular Oncology. The Metastasis Center is linked to the University of Chicago Cancer Research Center, which is directed by Michelle Le Beau, Ph.D

 

As part of a multi-site federal program to develop centers for the study of population health and health disparities, the group of research projects comprising Center for Interdisciplinary Health Disparities Research (CIHDR) was started in order to explore and understand why Black women have a higher incidence of mortality from breast cancer then White women. Black women in the US and West Africa develop breast cancers that occur at a younger age and are more aggressive and lethal then those experienced by White women of Northern European ancestry. Center investigators, in projects that build on and inform one another, take a multi-level approach to understanding Black-White disparities in breast cancer.