University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center

Founded in 1973, the University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center (UCCCC) received its designation as an NCI-Designated Cancer Center that same year and was designated as an NCI comprehensive cancer center in 2008.

The UCCCC’s mission is to better understand cancer’s causes, to develop treatments for cancer, and to prevent cancer through research, clinical care, education, and community engagement. This is accomplished through innovative clinical and research programs that emphasize collaboration among a dedicated team of outstanding basic, translational, clinical, and population researchers and trainees.

The center serves more than 8.5 million residents in a five-county area in northeast Illinois and northwest Indiana. More than 7,500 patients a year are diagnosed with or treated for cancer at the South Side Chicago-based academic health system, which includes its main medical campus in Hyde Park, an ambulatory facility in Orland Park, Ingalls Memorial Hospital in Harvey, and affiliate Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox.

University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center

Comp

Adekunle Odunsi, MD, PhD
Director

5841 South Maryland Avenue, MC 2115
Chicago, IL 60637-1470

(773) 702-6180

Senior Leaders

Senior Leader	Title
Adekunle Odunsi, MD, PhD	UCCCC Director
Jasmin Tiro, PhD, MPH	Associate Director for Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences
Jing Chen, PhD	Associate Director for Translational Sciences
Kay Macleod, PhD	Associate Director for Basic Sciences
M. Eileen Dolan, PhD	Deputy Director
Marcia Tan, PhD, MPH	Assistant Director for Community Outreach and Engagement
Nita Lee, MD, MPH	Associate Director for Community Outreach and Engagement
Russell Szmulewitz, MD	Associate Director for Clinical Investigations
Samuel Armato, PhD	Associate Director for Education
TBD	Associate Director for Administration
Yu-Ying He, PhD	Associate Director for Shared Resources

Research Programs

Research Program	Program Leaders
Cancer Prevention and Control	Brandon Pierce, PhD; Tara Henderson, MD, MPH; Loren Saulsberry, PhD
Clinical and Experimental Therapeutics	Russell Szmulewitz, MD; Chin-Tu Chen, PhD; Wendy Stock, MD; Jennifer McNeer, MD
Immunology and Cancer	Thomas Gajewski, MD, PhD; Peter Savage, PhD; Justin Kline, MD
Molecular Mechanisms of Cancer	Kay Macleod, PhD; Barbara Kee, PhD; Megan McNerney, MD, PhD

Shared Resources

Category	Resource	Directors
Cat 1: Laboratory Science	Cytometry and Antibody Technology	George Langan, DVM; David Leclerc, MS
Cat 1: Laboratory Science	Genomics	Yoav Gilad, PhD; Pieter Faber, PhD; William Buikema, PhD
Cat 1: Laboratory Science	Human Immunologic Monitoring and cGMP	Thomas Gajewski, MD, PhD; Amittha Wickrema, PhD; Yuanyuan Zha, PhD; Diane Ostrega, MS, MBA
Cat 1: Laboratory Science	Integrated Microscopy	Benjamin Glick, PhD; Christine Labno, PhD
Cat 1: Laboratory Science	Integrated Small Animal Imaging Research Resource	Chin-Tu Chen, PhD; Brian Roman, PhD; Lara Leoni, PhD; Xiaobing Fan, PhD; Hsiu-Ming Tsai, PhD
Cat 1: Laboratory Science	Transgenic Mouse and Embryonic Stem Cell Facility	Kay Macleod, PhD; Linda Degenstein, AB
Cat 4: Clinical Research	Human Tissue Resource Center	Mark Lingen, DDS, PhD; Terri Shihong Li, MD
Cat 4: Clinical Research	Pharmacology	Mark Ratain, MD; Jacqueline Ramirez, MS
Cat 6: Biostatistics	Biostatistics	Donald Hedeker, PhD; Theodore Karrison, PhD
Cat 7: Informatics	Bioinformatics	Mengjie Chen, PhD; Wenjun Kang, MS

Last Updated

September 5, 2025