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Community Collaboration

The California Breast Cancer Research Program (CBCRP) believes that communities should actively participate in research about issues that concern them. The Community Research Collaboration (CRC) awards, developed in 1997, requires a partnership between community members (such as a breast cancer advocacy organization, a community clinic or organization serving women with breast cancer, or a member of a California community affected by breast cancer) and experienced research scientists. The partnership works together to identify the research question, develop the research plan, carry out the research, interpret the results, and disseminate information to the community.

Available Funding

Three funding mechanisms are available:

The CRC Pilot award is for a maximum of $150,000 in direct costs for a period of up to 18 months. Indirect costs are available, are added above the direct cost limit, and are based either on the agency's federally negotiated rate, or on a default rate of 25% of direct costs. The Pilot award is intended to support the initial phase of the project, including solidifying the working relationship between the community and traditional researchers, detailing the research plan and methods, and collecting pilot data.
The CRC Full award is for a maximum of $600,000 in direct costs for a period of up to three years. Indirect costs are available, are added above the direct cost limit, and are based either on the agency's federally negotiated rate, or on a default rate of 25% of direct costs. It is intended that this research award will be used to complete the research plan developed and initiated during the Pilot award.
The CRC Implementation and Dissemination (I and D) award is for a maximum of $150,000 in direct costs for a period of up to 18 months. Indirect costs are available, are added above the direct cost limit, and are based either on the agency's federally negotiated rate, or on a default rate of 25% of direct costs. The I and D award is for CRC teams that have completed a CRC Full award.

Kinds of Projects We Fund

You may apply for an award addressing any issue that has been identified by your community as important to breast cancer. However, this is a research award, so you must be able to consider the issue you have identified as a well-defined research question. For example, you could test whether a certain health service improves a woman’s quality of life, but we would not fund research to simply evaluate whether you provide that service in a timely, efficient manner. Possible areas appropriate for a CRC award include:

New methods of disseminating information about breast cancer (including state-of-the-art technologies)
New methods to increase patient access to and participation in breast cancer clinical trials
New methods to improve patient support at diagnosis, treatment, recurrence, and in clinical trials (such as psychosocial support, provider networks, etc.)
New or not-yet-established risks for breast cancer, including environmental factors
Ethical use of, implications of, public policy about, and support for genetic testing for breast cancer susceptibility
Methods to facilitate diffusion of new practices into widespread clinical use

Evaluation of CRC Awards

In 2000 the CBCRP contracted with the consulting firm Marj Plumb and Associates to evaluate the CRC awards. Awardees and non-funded applicants were interviewed to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the grant program as it exists. Interviews were conducted to gather information on the roles of the research partners, the nature of their involvement in the study, suggestions for improving the funding mechanisms, and lessons learned to ensure strong community and traditional researcher collaborations in the future.

In 2004, Marj Plumb of Plumbline Coaching and Consulting conducted an evaluation to examine the impact and outcomes of the CRC awards on both the academic and community partners who conducted the research, the communities they serve, and on health services and policy. The evaluation focused on Community Based Participatory Research, the research process used in the CRC awards. The first part of this evaluation entitled “Transforming Research: An Evaluation of the Community Research Collaboration Awards” evaluated the impact and outcomes of the CRC awards through the quality of the research in areas such as recruitment and retention; research methods; data analysis; and dissemination. The second part of the evaluation entitled, “Transforming Partnerships: The Relationship between Collaboration and Outcomes in the Community Research Collaboration Awards” determined whether particular characteristics of partnership collaboration influenced research outcomes.

For More Information, Please Contact:

Walter Price
California Breast Cancer Research Program
University of California Office of the President
300 Lakeside Drive, 6th Floor
Oakland, CA 94612-3550
Phone (510) 987-9884
Toll Free (888) 313-2277
Fax (510) 587-6325
cbcrp@ucop.edu

“We saw that women with cancer were having difficulty getting benefits, and dealing with housing and employment discrimination. We were wondering how come some women did really well and others didn't.”

— Community Research Grant Recipient