Goals for Cycle I

CBCRP's goals are based on the intent of the enabling legislation, which is to reduce the human and economic costs of breast cancer in California. The Breast Cancer Act calls for funding innovative and creative breast cancer research that complements - rather than duplicates - research that has been funded by the federal government and other agencies. The Breast Cancer Research Council, after careful deliberation, decided that the most effective use of the $20 million available in the first funding cycle was to focus research funding on areas that were not as well-funded by the federal government and other agencies.

The choice of priority areas by the Council was based not only on the importance of each area to the fight against breast cancer, but also (1) on the Council's sense of how funding from this Program would have the greatest impact on the human and economic cost of breast cancer in the state of California, and (2) on the funding patterns of the federal government and other agencies. To make an informed decision on the priority areas of breast cancer research selected for funding in the first cycle, CBCRP convened a meeting of breast cancer experts from around the country. The goals of the meeting were to hear firsthand what scientists, as well as those living with the disease, believed were the issues into which research is most needed. Attendees at this July 1994 meeting included researchers from government, university and industry laboratories, breast cancer medical specialists and survivor/advocates. With the invaluable guidance from the dynamic exchange of views at this meeting, and recognizing the need to focus funding on taking significant steps in a few research areas, the Council adopted the following priority breast cancer research issues for the first grant cycle:

The Council decided not to recommend advance allocation of the $20 million available to specific subject matter areas or award mechanisms, but rather to base funding recommendations on the number and quality of the applications received.

Applications were solicited for six award mechanisms in Cycle I. Included were awards for research career development because one recommendation from the advisory meeting was to encourage new and established investigators to begin conducting breast cancer research. The Cycle I funding mechanisms were:

Applications were evaluated in three steps. The first step was the submission and peer review evaluation of brief descriptions of the proposed research, called Letters of Intent (LOIs). The Council believed that inviting investigators to submit only brief accounts of their proposed research in this first step would encourage the submission of a greater number and variety of applications to this new program and would ensure that the applications received would be directly targeted to Program priorities. LOIs were evaluated by screening committees comprised of peer reviewers from outside California and Council members. The screening committees evaluated the scientific merit and responsiveness of the LOIs to CBCRP's priority research issues, and recommended that the authors of promising LOIs be invited to submit detailed applications. In the second step, applications that were submitted in response to these invitations underwent a peer review evaluation modeled on the process employed by the National Institutes of Health. Breast cancer advocates were full participants in this process. Peer reviewers judged the applications on scientific merit and the following four criteria: innova- tiveness; multidisciplinary research team; reducing cultural barriers to accessing the health care system for early detection of breast cancer; and translational research (i.e., facilitating the delivery of improved breast cancer detection techniques and prevention procedures). In the third step of the application and evaluation process, the Council, after considering the peer review evaluations, Program priorities, and available funds, recommended the applications to be funded.