Cancer Health Equity Research Centers (CHERCs) Grant

Cancer Health Equity Research Centers (CHERCs) Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: American Cancer Society
Amount: Up to US $860,000
Last Updated: December 18, 2025

Summary

The Cancer Health Equity Research Centers (CHERCs) initiative by the American Cancer Society aims to address health disparities by supporting research focused on social determinants affecting cancer care. This program encourages innovative projects that engage communities, enhance access, and improve outcomes across diverse populations. By fostering collaborations and promoting multidisciplinary approaches, CHERCs strive to create equitable cancer prevention and treatment solutions, ensuring that all individuals have fair opportunities for cancer care and survivorship.

Overview

American Cancer Society The mission of the American Cancer Society is to improve the lives of people with cancer and their families through advocacy, research, and patient support, to ensure everyone has an opportunity to prevent, detect, treat, and survive cancer. Background Societal conditions where people are born, grow up, live, work, worship, and age, have a profound effect on their health, access to cancer care, and ability to act on health care recommendations. Addressing the root causes of cancer health disparities in the context of these social and structural drivers of health is essential to accelerate progress in equitable cancer prevention and care research. Health outcomes are impacted by intersecting factors of wealth, discrimination, education, employment, geography, language, neighborhood, health systems, insurance coverage, and access to care. For equitable access to high-quality cancer care and the most effective ways to achieve optimal outcomes, there is a critical need for research that understands the context surrounding these health disparities, proposes and tests tangible solutions, and values community input. Scientific Scope Successful applications will propose well-designed research projects poised to make an impact on their local community within the framework of a coordinated center approach that’s focused on demonstrated health inequities. Projects may span the cancer continuum and include health promotion, cancer prevention, screening, treatment, access to care, care delivery, and/or survivorship. Community engagement is vital for successful implementation and should be central to the development of the CHERC. The description of the CHERC should clearly present the center’s overall scientific agenda, magnitude of the health inequity(ies) being addressed, thematic connections across presented research, and how the CHERC achieves more as a unit, than as independently conducted projects. There are many examples of health inequities affecting the population in the United States. ACS has identified the following priority areas (additional topics may be considered with appropriate justification by the applicant): Rural Communities/Access to HealthEarly Onset Cancers    Racial/Ethnic Disparities - American Indian/Alaskan Native, Black, Asian, Hispanic, Native Hawaiian/Pacific IslanderImmigrant Populations Sexual/Gender MinoritiesAge-specific Needs (pediatrics, adolescents/young adults, older adults)Environmental Justice (radon, climate change)Physical and Mental Disabilities This RFA is a call for solution-based research addressing cancer health disparities that will enable fair and just opportunities to prevent, detect, and survive cancer for everyone. Due to the complexities associated with the social and structural drivers of health that are responsible for cancer inequalities, we encourage multilevel models and research that address these interrelated factors. Applicants should demonstrate their ability to reach populations of interest and describe how the proposed methodologies will produce meaningful results. In support of its overall mission, the CHERC should establish a Supportive Core that is managed and coordinated by the Principal Investigator (PI). The Supportive Core should include operational and scientific activities designed to develop, promote, and enhance the scientific agenda of the CHERC, creating an optimal environment to address health equity research. Acceptable activities may include developing commonly used methods and tools, sharing resources, collaborations, facilitating relevant mentoring and training, pilot projects, community engagement, and disseminating research findings. Proposed evaluation metrics to monitor the progress and successes of the Core should be included in the application. Project Budget and Subaward Mechanism(s) These awards support a total budget of $4.07M ($3.7M direct costs plus 10% indirect costs) for a 4-year project period that includes research subawards and CHERC Supportive Core activities. The PI may propose any combination of subawards and Core costs as long as they do not exceed specified budget limits. There is no designated budget cap for the CHERC Supportive Core, but all activities must be included in the budget justification. Research subawards include the following ACS research grant mechanisms: Clinician Scientist Development Grants (CSDGs) provide support for protected time to allow faculty who are involved with patient care to develop as independent clinician scientists through mentoring and research training. Applicants cannot have an independent research program or R-level funding at the time of application. CSDG applicants can propose 3- or 4-year projects, at $135,000 direct costs per year. If this subaward is at a secondary institution, 8% indirect costs per year may be claimed by the secondary institution.Research Scholar Grants (RSGs) provide support to independent, self-directed researchers for 4 years at $215,000 per year direct costs. To be eligible, subaward PIs must have a full-time faculty position and a doctoral degree. If this subaward is at a secondary institution, 10% indirect costs may be claimed by the secondary institution. For this RFA, faculty may have any rank. The research must be multi-level and involve 2 or more social determinants of health.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. All applicants must be independent researchers at eligible US academic institutions or nonprofits. Applicants from underrepresented groups and Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) are encouraged to apply. Previous CHERC awardees are permitted to submit applications for competitive renewals. Awardees are limited to one renewal.The Center’s PI must have a strong track record of addressing cancer health equity as evidenced by extramural cancer research funding, mentoring junior investigators, publications in peer-reviewed journals, and administrative/leadership experience.