Chicago Association for Research and Education in Science
Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.
What it says it does
To enhance the health care of Americas veterans by supporting the research and education of physicians, nurses, researchers, and others at the Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital, Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center, William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital, and Jesse Brown VA Medical Center.
- Income
- $6.9 million
- Spending
- $6.6 million
- Spent on programs
- 83%
- Reserves
- 13.5 months of spending
- Largest source of income
- government grants, 63%
- Employees
- 50
- Highest pay
- $182,981, ceo/secretary
Source: Form 990 for the year ending September 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Financial health
Strong: 100 out of 100. Higher than 81% of charities in its peer group (medical research, $1m to $10m).
Reserves
35 of 35Spendable reserves would cover 13.5 months of spending.
Debt
20 of 20It owes 15% of what it owns.
Living within its means
15 of 15Income exceeded spending by 4% of income.
Income trend
15 of 15Income rose 6% on the year before.
Spending floor
15 of 1583% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 0 cents.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending September 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Governance
Strong: 100 out of 100. Higher than 64% of charities in its peer group (medical research, $1m to $10m).
Independent board
25 of 2518 of 19 voting board members are independent.
Conflict of interest policy
15 of 15Has a written conflict of interest policy.
Whistleblower policy
8 of 8Has a written whistleblower policy.
Record keeping policy
7 of 7Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.
Board minutes
5 of 5Keeps minutes of board meetings.
Board sees the tax return
10 of 10Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.
Pay set independently
5 of 5Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.
Independent check of accounts
15 of 15Its accounts were audited by an independent accountant.
No reported misuse
10 of 10Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending September 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Impact evidence
Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.
Programs described in its return (5)
- $587,235 spent. Caring Connections A program to alleviate social isolation and loneliness in individuals living with spinal cord injury conducted by Dr. Sherri Lavela at Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital. The findings of this study have revealed how persons with SCI/D conceptualize loneliness and social isolation, and both constructs encompassed feeling alone along with other emotional states such as darkness and sadness lack of meaningful interactions and brought to light patient views on driving factors. Findings can be used to develop social health interventions and guide patient-provider discussions that address meaningful aspects of loneliness and social isolation as perceived by individuals and suggest that efforts are needed to better identify and respond to social isolation and lonliness in community and healthcare settings. These findings will help us build and refine the intervention design and content for the current grant. Examining energy in persons with chronic spinal cord injuries and disorders measurement of requirements, knowledge, and intake - conducted by Dr. Sherri Lavela and Lorena Reyes, dietitian at Edward Hines Jr VA Hospital. Stude focuses on measuring energy requirements, nutritional intake, and physical activity levels, particularly for those with tetraplegia and complete lesions, to improve metabolic health.
- $1.4 million spent. COVID-19 vaccine safety monitoring surveillance Rapid Cycle Analysis Queries Risk Assessment/Evaluation funded by the CDC. Under this study, adverse events of special interest AESIswill be identified through ICD-10 diagnosis codes in CDW databases for Veterans who received COVID-19 vaccines. Prespecified potential AESIs will be identified from inpatient and emergency visits for most outcomes and a small number of pre-specified outcomes will also be identified from outpatient visits. The potential associations between vaccine administration and pre-specified adverse events will be evaluated in near real-time employing a technique called rapid cycle analysis RCA. Specifically, a Poisson-based maximized sequential probability test MaxSPRT will be employed. Other approaches may also be adopted in order to monitor the safety of COVID-19 vaccines in near real-time e.g. Bayesian, vaccinated vs unvaccinated matched on date of vaccination, etc. SafeRx Post-Market Medical Product Surveillance funded by the FDA. The purpose of this study was to enhance drug safetly knowledge and expand and develop better tools and techniques for assessing drug safety through information sharing and the exploitantion of VA and FDA synergies in a variety of areas of scientific expertise. The goals of collaboration were to expore ways to - Further enhance information sharing efforts through more efficient and robust inter-agency activities - Promote efficient utilization of tools and expertise for product risk identification, validation, and analysis - Build infrastructure and processes that meet the common needs for evaluating drug safety. These studies were conducted by Dr. Cunningham Francesca at Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital.
- $212,250 spent. Comparison of a Novel Modified All-Suture Construct Versus Suture-Button Fixation in a Syndesmotic Injury Model conducted by Muturi G Muriuki, PhD, subcontract PI at Musculoskeletal Biomechanics Laboratory, Edward Hines Jr VA Hospital, Hines, IL. The laboratory will conduct biomechanical experiments to characterize the ability of a modified all-suture construct to stabilize the syndesmosis. This construction will be compared to a commercially available suspensory button fixation system. The test speicmans will be obtained by the laboratory. Fluoroscopy will be used to screen specimens. The experiments will measure the change in the spatial relationship between the tibia and fibula under 750N of axial load and 7.5Nm of internal rotation moment. Custom test fixtures and apparatus will allow each tibia to be rifidly fixed to a custom test fixture with the specimen aligned anatomically and the foot fixed to a plate. The foot plate will allow some trannslation and rotation in the transverse plane in repsonse to forces applied during testing. This allowance will accomodate any mismatch in the rotational axis of the ankle and that of the test apparatus.
- Program Service Expenses 3,316,766, Grants and allocations 0, Revenue 2,110,830 See Schedule O
- The Chicago Association for Research and Education in Science CARES has been serving veterans since 1984. The primary tax-exempt purpose of CARES is biomedical, clinical and health services research as well as health related educational activities in collaboration with the Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital and the Captain James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center, William S. Middleton VA Hospital and Jesse Brown VA Medical Center. This research benefits United States Veterans being treated at all four VA sites and the general public by advancing knowledge in the diagnosis and treatment of disease and disability. Education activities include the dissemination of research results through publication in quality medical journals and presentation at professional meetings all of which are intended to translate research results to clinical practice. Other education is geared to helping patients and their families understand and manage their medical conditions. During the past year, CARES supported more than 100 individual researchers who cumulatively are conducting research projects in the following diabetic foot ulcers, antibiotic-resistant infections, hypertensive renal injury, osteoporosis, retinopathy, bladder function, neurofibromatosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, inflammatory bowel disease, diabetes, rehabilitation research and development, pressure ulcers, hypertension, infectious diseases, cancer, cardiovascular disease, mental health, stroke, health services and outcomes research, kidney disease, veteran engagement, mechanical ventilation, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, musculoskeletal biomechanics, and more.
Source: Form 990 for the year ending September 30, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate
Legitimacy checks
Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.
Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.
Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.
Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.
On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.
Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.
Most recent return on file covers the year ending September 2025.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.
Recognized by the IRS since March 2001.
Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.
Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.
Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.
Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated October 21, 2026.
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