The University of Cincinnati Cancer Center and the Osher Center for Integrative Health at the University of Cincinnati received a $2 million gift from John and Carrie Hayden to establish and endow a community learning kitchen that emphasizes the vital role of nutrition not only in the prevention but also the treatment of chronic disease.

The John and Carrie Hayden Community Learning Kitchen will open in early 2026 in the Blood Cancer Healing Center, adjacent to a mind-body-spirit wellness studio and rooftop healing garden. 

The John and Carrie Hayden Community Learning Kitchen will emphasize the benefits of nutrition and healing, combining the science of cooking and culinary medicine and serving as a hands-on laboratory for clinical research studies and implementation science.

The community learning kitchen will be a place where:

• Patients, students and the community come together for hands-on culinary medicine classes to learn the key components and benefits of food as medicine.
• Dieticians and researchers can evaluate the impact of diet and nutrition patterns on metabolism, mental health, wellness and healing.
• Programming and outreach will focus on lifestyle medicine approaches to preventing and managing chronic conditions, particularly cancer, and opportunities for personalized health consultations.
• Caregivers and family members of patients from across the Cancer Center and UC Health can engage in hands-on nutrition education to best support specific types of cancer patients’ needs, like loss of appetite, taste or swallowing difficulty.

“The learning kitchen is going to be transformational for our community,” said Cotton. “It supports the Osher Center’s principles that food, exercise, music and arts, stress reduction, mindfulness and nature are medicine.”

Read more about the gift and learning kitchen.