CBCRP to Host a Statewide Breast Cancer Research Symposium in 2010 – “From Research to Action: Tools for Change”
Katherine McKenzie, Ph.D., Manager, Research Dissemination and Outreach
After three years since holding a symposium, we are happy to announce that our next statewide breast cancer research symposium will be held September 24-25, 2010, at the Oakland Marriott and Convention Center.
The symposium is free and open to anyone interested in the direction of breast cancer research. Past symposia have attracted people from all corners of the breast caner field. The attendees have ranged from people who are attending their first scientific conference to people who have spent a lifetime researching breast cancer. They included breast cancer advocates, clinicians, researchers in basic and social sciences, and legislators. The common thread between them is their abiding interest in the breast cancer field and finding ways to work together to end the disease.
The symposium will continue our tradition of exploring critical topics in breast cancer research, highlighting the contributions that CBCRP-funded researchers have made toward advancing our understanding of breast cancer; and developing ways to prevent, detect, and treat it; and providing practical information about what each of us can do about breast cancer today.
A major goal of the CBCRP is not just to fund research into breast cancer, but to find ways to apply it. The research that will be presented at the symposium this year will highlight how we are putting this philosophy into action. Investigators will discuss what they are discovering about breast cancer and how they are moving their research down the critical path to application.
In 2007, the CBCRP began to fund program-initiated research into the role of the environment and breast cancer and the reasons for the unequal burden of the disease. The plenary session of the 2010 symposium, “A California Roadmap for Identifying Chemicals That Affect Breast Cancer Risk”, will reveal the tangible benefits that have resulted from one of these projects. The CBCRP funded an expert panel to examine the biological pathways governing the biology of breast cancer and the toxicity tests that can improve our ability to detect chemicals likely to affect breast development and carcinogenesis. The panel members will describe their recommendations for improving chemical toxicity screens to increase their relevance for human breast cancer and the impact their findings will have on California policies.
The symposium will also feature breast cancer workshops for nonscientists, networking opportunities, practical information from nonprofit community organizations about what you can do about breast cancer, and art exhibits about how breast cancer affects our lives.
Advocates have had a critical voice in the direction of the CBCRP research agenda since the inception of the program, which has resulted in the innovative ways that the program approaches research funding. Our event’s keynote address will be given by an advocate who exemplifies that voice, Angela Padilla, detailing how advocacy can drive the breast cancer research agenda. She is the co-founder of Bay Area Young Survivors, a support and action group for women age 45 and under who are living with breast cancer.
Many more symposium topics and speakers are being finalized. Watch for more information about the symposium on our website www.cabreastcancer.org/symposium/ and on Facebook. Registration will be open in early 2010.
