Flames win Coaches vs. Cancer Game
When the UIC Flames men’s basketball team beat the Illinois State Redbirds in a Coaches vs. Cancer game on Feb. 15, the Flames’ coaches were decked out in colorful court shoes fancifully painted by pediatric cancer patients at UI Health, UIC’s academic health system. The game was part of college basketball’s annual collaboration with the American Cancer Society and the Coaches vs. Cancer program.
Again this year, the Flames and UI Health, which includes the University of Illinois Cancer Center, teamed up for the game, hosting the shoe painting when the kids came in for their clinic days and inviting the children and their families to the game.
At the game, Cancer Center member Dr. Dipti Dighe, chair of pediatric hematology-oncology at UI Health and Cook County Health, was the halftime radio interview guest. She discussed common pediatric cancers, significant research breakthroughs and the next frontier in science to extend the lives of children who develop cancer.
She is also the principal investigator of UIC’s Children’s Oncology Group site, which leads a tri-institutional group that includes Cook County Health and Rush University Medical Center.
Listen to her halftime interview at the 1:30 mark in the recorded game audio.
