$25 million naming gift: Ralph Lauren elevates Cancer Equity with landmark medicine partnership
Ralph Lauren’s latest $25 million cancer‑equity initiative stands out as one of the most ambitious and compassionate philanthropic efforts in modern healthcare, marrying scale with a deep commitment to dignity, access, and community impact. In January 2026, The Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation awarded a major multi‑year, multi‑million‑dollar grant to UChicago Medicine to establish the UChicago Medicine Ralph Lauren Center, the first Ralph Lauren–named cancer center in the Midwest and the fourth in the United States, dedicated to expanding prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and supportive services for underserved patients on Chicago’s South Side and in the Southland.
Operating across UChicago Medicine Ingalls Memorial in Harvey and the new AbbVie Foundation Cancer Pavilion in Hyde Park—an advanced 575,000‑square‑foot cancer facility opening in April 2027—the Center will combine community‑based screening and navigation with cutting‑edge clinical care, specialized breast cancer services, rapid‑assessment for immunocompromised patients, and spaces for nutrition, fitness, support groups, and integrative therapies.
This Chicago investment is part of a broader $25 million national commitment by the Foundation, the largest single funding pledge in its history, to create or expand five Ralph Lauren–named cancer centers within NCI‑designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers, all focused on reducing disparities in outcomes for medically underserved communities.
Earlier centers at Memorial Sloan Kettering in East Harlem, Georgetown Lombardi in Washington, D.C., and USC Norris in Los Angeles have already positioned Ralph Lauren as a national leader in cancer equity, and the UChicago partnership extends that vision into another major urban region where cancer remains a leading cause of death.
National leaders have highlighted this initiative as a model of public–private collaboration within the Cancer Moonshot, recognizing that it not only funds care but reimagines how and where high‑quality cancer services are delivered.
At UChicago Medicine, the new Center builds on nearly a decade of sustained support from The Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation, including crucial funding during the COVID‑19 pandemic to help cancer patients facing food insecurity, transportation barriers, financial hardship, and social isolation. That backing strengthened programs such as patient navigation, supportive oncology, and community‑based services, reflecting a philosophy of care that treats emotional, social, and practical needs as inseparable from medical treatment.
Under the leadership of Comprehensive Cancer Center Director Kunle Odunsi, MD, PhD, and Program Director Nita Lee, MD, the UChicago Medicine Ralph Lauren Center is explicitly structured to address social determinants of health through personalized screening, genetic testing, coordinated treatment pathways, and a planned mobile unit that will bring preventive services and education directly into neighborhoods.
Globally, this moment in Chicago is the latest expression of a 30‑plus‑year commitment Ralph Lauren has made to the fight against cancer, spanning the Pink Pony Fund’s international work in prevention, early detection, and patient navigation, as well as long‑standing partnerships with institutions such as Georgetown Lombardi and the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity in the United Kingdom.
What began as a personal promise after friends and colleagues faced cancer has evolved into a comprehensive, multi‑continent philanthropic platform that raises awareness, funds breakthrough research, and brings world‑class care closer to those who have historically been left behind. From New York to Washington, Los Angeles, London, and now Chicago, Ralph Lauren’s philanthropy is helping to redefine what it means for a global brand to stand with patients and families—using its name, resources, and reach to close gaps in access and give more people the chance not just to survive cancer, but to live well beyond it.