New report urges sustained investments and community partnerships to improve public health

On June 5 and 6, 2025, the UChicago Center for Chronic Disease Research and Policy, in partnership with the University of Chicago Office of Research and the Cancer Center, hosted Chicago CARE (Collecting and Aligning Research to Achieve Health Equity), one of 18 symposia in 14 cities across the United States to identify problems and strategize together on solutions to achieve health equity.

Over two days, researchers, policymakers, and leaders from foundations and community organizations convened over presentations, panels, and breakout sessions. The overarching goals of the gathering were to discuss current funding streams and healthcare outcomes impacting Chicago communities, develop a research plan focused on disease prevention and equitable investments, launch working groups to create policy recommendations to enhance research, clinical practice, and patient care across Chicagoland, and design a philanthropic plan to bridge federal and state gaps and promote cross-sector partnerships.

On April 30, 2026, findings and reflections from all 18 symposia were published in a special New England Journal of Medicine Catalyst supplement “Toward a Healthier Future: Building a Science of Health Beyond Biomedical Discovery.” Led by the Collective to Strengthen Pathways for Health Research, an alliance of the Doris Duke Foundation with American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, Burroughs Wellcome Fund, Dana Foundation, Donaghue Foundation, Prebys Foundation, Robertson Foundation, Susan G. Komen and additional philanthropic partners that fund health research, the symposia focused on topics ranging from integrated behavioral health care, maternal health, rural health, digital health, and more. 

Throughout the symposia, the consensus seemed clear that health research must be broadened in focus, developed in partnership with community organizations, and supported by multiple public and private investors over a sustained period of time to achieve necessary breakthroughs in public health.

“From a funder’s perspective… reliance on cures is insufficient to improve the health of Americans,” wrote Christina M. Annunziata, MD, PhD, senior vice president of extramural discovery science at the American Cancer Society and others in their introduction to the issue. “We cannot reap the full societal return of the impressive gains made in biomedical research without deeper and more strategic and systematic investment in health solutions science.”

Community-centered approaches to health

UChicago’s contribution, “Community-Centered Funding and Research to Advance Health Equity,” was coauthored by Jasmin Tiro, PhD, Professor of Public Health Sciences and Associate Director of Cancer Prevention and Population Science at the Comprehensive Cancer Center, Elbert Huang, MD, MPH, Professor of Medicine, Director of the Center for Chronic Disease Research and Policy, and Senior Advisor in the Office of Research leading the Community Engaged Research & Impact initiative, and others.

Their report begins by highlighting the longstanding and persistent problem of the life expectancy gap, currently 24 years, between residents of Chicago’s Loop and West Garfield Park neighborhoods, differences created not by individual behavior or medical care, but by broader social and economic conditions, including housing stability, access to food, education, employment, and safety. Because of these structural causes, solutions must address root causes rather than solely focus on treatments for disease. However, the system for funding health research, which favors short-term output over sustained change, often does not support the kind of long-term community-based approaches that are needed to improve public health.

Instead, Tiro and her co-authors recommend the development of a funding and partnership model that would promote integrated, collaborative approaches over a longer time horizon to allow researchers and community partners to build trust and equitable partnerships. Establishing community-based research networks can give organizations the opportunity to identify research priorities for the communities they serve and take the lead on designing studies in partnership with institutions.

The researchers also suggest that public and private funders should work together to pool funding in alignment with shared goals, which should be pursued across health, housing, and economic development. Prevention must be an important priority in this work and can be incentivized through changes to payment structures and insurance coverage. 

Building on a strong foundation in Chicago

While Chicago’s life expectancy gap illustrates the urgent need for overarching changes to social and structural factors in health, the city also contains a wealth of opportunities to develop and implement new strategies, given its strong community networks and academic institutions.   

“It was an incredible opportunity to be part of a national conversation with so many stakeholders in the quest to reshape health research,” Huang said. “What we learned from our session and the other symposia from across the nation affirm the research that we have been doing for the past five years at the Chicago Chronic Condition Engagement Network, a partnership between the UChicago Center for Chronic Disease Research and Policy, Rush University, and a research network of committed community-based organizations to advance health equity in our city and beyond.” 

“Gathering Chicagoland perspectives from so many passionate champions of health equity was truly inspiring,” Tiro said. “The insights we gained reinforced the importance of multilateral engagement, in which patients, researchers, clinicians, community organizations, advocacy groups, policymakers, and funders actively shape the research agenda together, a core principle guiding the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center.”

“Programs that comprehensively address both medical and social needs and address both acute needs and prevention are essential but require sustained commitments and genuine partnerships that are grounded ultimately in the service of patients and the communities in which they live,” said David Meltzer MD, PhD, Associate Dean for Clinical Science and Director of the Institute for Translational Medicine. “I hope this work can provide a roadmap to further developing the sustained commitments and genuine partnerships required to serve our patients and the communities in which they live.”    

The findings from Chicago CARE and the other symposia documented in the NEJM catalyst issue are being incorporated into an action plan to guide the Collective to Strengthen Pathways for Health Research in their next steps to unite resources for research to improve disease treatment and prevention.