Introduction

The California Breast Cancer Research Program (CBCRP) is pleased to announce the funding of 50 new research grants that will advance our knowledge about the causes, prevention, biology, detection, and treatment of breast cancer. With these new awards we are investing $11.5 million to improve the lives of California women. These research projects are being performed at 21 institutions across the state, including universities both public (e.g., University of California campuses) and private (e.g., Stanford University); National Laboratories (e.g., Lawrence Berkeley National laboratory); research institutes (e.g., The Burnham Institute); medical centers (e.g., Childrens Hospital Los Angeles); and community organizations (e.g., Women's Cancer Resource Center).

The CBCRP supports breast cancer research in California from funds obtained through:

This is our ninth year (or cycle) of grant funding, and through 2003 we have awarded nearly $150 million to fund 569 research projects. The CBCRP is administered by the University of California, Office of the President, in Oakland. Our overall objectives, strategies, and priorities are developed with the assistance of a volunteer advisory Council, which also makes recommendations on the applications to be funded. The Council consists of 16 members: five are representatives of breast cancer survivor/advocacy groups; five are scientists/clinicians; two are members from nonprofit health organizations, one is a practicing breast cancer medical specialist, two are members from private industry, and one is an ex officio member from the DHS Breast Cancer Early Detection Program: “Every Women Counts”.

The Challenge:

“The mission of the CBCRP is to eliminate breast cancer by leading innovation in research, communication, and collaboration in the California scientific and lay communities.”

The challenge and barriers to address this mission are tremendous. Although CBCRP is the largest breast cancer research funder in the world, we work with a budget less than 0.05% of the NIH ($23B) and 0.2% of the NCI ($4.6B). We seek to fund a unique grant portfolio and reduce overlap with other agencies. Our funded research is broken down into categories by both breast cancer-specific research topics that we call Priority Issues and by project- and investigator-specific award types.

To establish the CBCRP's priorities and advance our mission, our advisory Council identified these key criteria for the research CBCRP funds:

We are constantly evaluating our granting efforts to better meet the needs of both the research and the breast cancer advocacy communities in California. This year marks our tenth anniversary, and we are planning for the future. The increasing human cost and suffering due to breast cancer in California reminds us of how much is yet to be accomplished. We welcome your thoughts and feedback either via our Web site link “CBCRP Listens” or by e-mail: cbcrp@ucop.edu.

The CBCRP Funding Process:

The CBCRP Funding Process: In this Compendium we present the outcome of our 2003 grant application evaluation and funding process. In early 2003 we received grant applications in response to our “Call” for new research on breast cancer. During the period from 2001 through this year our application volume has increased by almost 40%, but our available budget has remained constant. In this funding cycle we evaluated 221 applications for scientific merit using a peer-review process. Our review committee membership and a description of this process are found at the end of this booklet. After the peer review scores were tabulated, the upper two-thirds of applications having “sufficient scientific merit” were considered by our advisory Council for funding in a programmatic review process. The Council members rate the applications for responsiveness to stated CBCRP criteria. The end result is that the CBCRP's advisory Council and Program staff balance the scientific merit and programmatic ratings to arrive at a funding decision for each application. Thus, the successful applicant has responded both in terms of presenting a high quality research project and by meeting the interests of the CBCRP stakeholders.

The Outcome:

In the remainder of this introduction and the sections to follow we present a summary, discussion, and listing of newly funded CBCRP grants for 2003 including:

We have organized our nine research topic Priority Issues into four groups that have a related theme. We feel that this best integrates the “pieces of the puzzle” that each grant represents in the breast cancer research landscape. The full abstracts of these newly funded grants, as well as those from previous CBCRP funding cycles, can be found on our Web site.

1. Statistical Summary:

A. New CBCRP Funding in 2003:

  • Total applications reviewed = 223
  • Applications offered funding = 51
  • Success rate = 22.8%
  • Grants accepted = 50
  • Amount awarded for new grants = $11,529,618
  • Grant supplements awarded in 2003 = 1, $10,000
Total of new grants and supplements awarded in 2003 = $11,539,618

B. Applications and Awards by CBCRP Priority Issues:

Priority Issue # of Applications # of Grants Awarded Awarded Amount

Community Impact:

Health Policy & Health Services
Sociocultural
Racial & Ethnic Differences
Total

 

7
20
7
34

 

1
6
4
11

 

$315,198
$1,447,888
$1,866,302
$3,629,388

Prevention & Risk Reduction:

Etiology
Prevention
Total

 

9
24
33

 

4
4
8

 

$1,338,399
$1,348,860
$2,687,259

Diagnosis & Treatment:

Earlier Detection
Innovative Treatments
Total

 

9
54
63

 

2
9
11

 

$83,304
$1,800,044
$1,883,348

Biology of the Breast Cell:

Biology of the Normal Breast
Pathogenesis
Total

 

19
74
93

 

8
12
20

 

$1,463,162
$1,866,461
$3,329,623

C. Applications and Awards by CBCRP Award Types:

Award Type # of Applications # of Grants Awarded Award Ammount

Collaboration Awards:

Community (CRC)
Translational (TRC)
Sci. Perspectives (SPRC)
Joining Forces Conference
Total

 

6
13
2
2
23

 

2
2
0
2
6

 

$232,264
$288,800
$0
$50,000
$571,064

Investigator-initiated Awards:

RFA
STEP
IDEA
Total

 

26
55
43
124

 

7
13
7
27

 

$4,125,804
$3,393,662
$884,863
$8,404,329

Career Development Awards:

Dissertation
Postdoctoral
New Investigator
Career Enrichment
Mentored Scholar
Total

 

3
47
23
1
2
76

 

2
11
3
1
0
17

 

$118,304
$858,024
$1,422,488
$155,409
$0
$2,554,225

2. Funding Highlights: