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, aiming to ensure everyone has the opportunity to prevent, detect, treat, and survive cancer.
The ACS Research Priority Areas aim to focus funding on research that advances their mission through six key areas: Etiology, Obesity/Healthy Eating and Active Living (HEAL), Screening and Diagnosis, Treatment, Survivorship, and Health Equity Across the Cancer Continuum. The funding for Cancer Health Equity Research Centers (CHERCs) is designed to support the creation of centers focused on cancer health disparities unique to specific communities. This includes research on integrating social-determinants-of-health screening and interventions, strategies to prevent diagnostic or treatment delays, increasing participation of medically underserved populations in clinical trials, and overcoming barriers to treatment adherence. A total budget of $4.08M over a 4-year period is provided as an institutional block grant to support these research efforts toward achieving sustainable health equity.