CBCRP Activities
Strategic Objectives in Research Funding
The mission of CBCRP is defined by its authorizing legislation as follows:
To support research efforts into the cause, cure, treatment, earlier detection, and prevention of breast cancer (from The Breast Cancer Act of 1993).
In keeping with the statutes, the Program is advised and overseen by an advisory council (the Breast Cancer Research Council). The Council is charged with developing the strategic objectives and priorities of the Program, and making final recommendations on which research grants should be funded.
Each spring, the Council meets to determine strategic objectives and funding priorities for the next year. The overall strategic objectives, as specified in the statutes, are:
- To fund research in fields that include, but are not limited to, biomedical science and engineering, the social, economic and behavioral sciences, epidemiology, technology development and translation, and public health.
- To fund innovative and creative research, with a special emphasis on research that complements, rather than duplicates, the research funded by the federal government.
- To consider a broad range of cross-disciplinary breast cancer research including, but not limited to, translational and technological research, including research regarding the development and translation of technologies of earlier detection; research regarding the cultural, economic, and legal barriers to accessing the health care system; research examining the link between breast cancer and environmental factors, including both natural and industrial chemicals, estrogen imitators, and electromagnetic fields.
Institution Types Supported by New Grants
- Hospitals
- Industry
- Private Universities
- Research/Governmental Institutes
- State Supported Universities
- Community Based Organizations
Research Priority Issues
The Council, after careful deliberation, decided that the most effective use of the $14 million available in funding Cycle III was to concentrate research funding on a small number of key issues, focusing, to the extent possible, on areas that are not as well-funded by the federal government and other agencies. The priorities established by the Council were based on:
- the importance of each area to the fight against breast cancer;
- the Council's sense of the potential impact of funded research on the human and economic costs of breast cancer in the state of California; and
- the funding patterns of the federal government and other agencies.
In addition, the Program introduced new initiatives to:
- challenge the research community to propose more innovative approaches to the problem of breast cancer, specifically including fostering collaborations between experienced researchers and community groups; and
- provide strong support for collaborative “translational” research, i.e., work whose results can be moved rapidly into practical application, whether through grass-roots organizations or mainstream health care providers.
The following six priorities were adopted:
- Enhance understanding of the etiology (causes) of breast cancer
- Enhance understanding of the pathogenesis (development) of breast cancer
- Develop new approaches to prevent breast cancer
- Develop more effective techniques for the earlier detection of breast cancer
- Increase access to services for the early detection of breast cancer
- Develop and test innovative models of care
- Explore innovative treatment modalities
Award Types
Research Training: Maintenance of Needed Human Resources
The relentless rate of deaths due to breast cancer over the last several decades has prompted CBCRP to provide for the training of new investigators—the human resources needed to ensure progress in the fight against breast cancer. Through two award types, CBCRP endeavors to attract new investigators to breast cancer research. Postdoctoral Fellowship Awards allow researchers early in their careers to receive research training in breast cancer issues. Sabbatical Awards provide support for experienced researchers to move into breast cancer research from another field. Together, these awards bring new minds into the fight against breast cancer, and ensure the human resources required to eradicate the disease.
Targeted Research Efforts
The Council identified two specific topics that they felt were (1) especially important to making progress in breast cancer research; and (2) not well supported by other research funding agencies. They set aside $1.5 million for each of the topics:
- Basic Breast Biology Relevant to Development of Breast Cancer — This Request for Applications encouraged studies aimed at achieving a greater knowledge of the normal breast, through all stages of development and change, in order to better understand anomalous changes that may lead to cancer.
- Breast Cancer Prevention, Risk Identification and Risk Reduction — This Request for Applications encouraged research that will enable more effective and appropriate prevention interventions by increasing our knowledge of modifiable breast cancer risk factors.
Innovation in Research
By identifying the specific priorities listed above, the Council has encouraged researchers to develop and explore innovative and risky concepts in areas that are most important in the fight against breast cancer. Innovative Developmental and Exploratory Awards (IDEAs) allow researchers to explore new concepts in breast cancer etiology, pathogenesis, prevention, and earlier detection that could lead to breakthroughs in these fields. Innovative Treatment and Models of Care Awards (ITaMoCAs) encourage development and testing of new treatment modalities or methods of delivering breast cancer care. Through these combined efforts of exploring new concepts and building on existing knowledge, the resulting improvements in prevention, detection and cure of breast cancer will advance the day when we can say with confidence that breast cancer is no longer a threat to the people of California.
New Initiatives in Collaboration
Two new award types were developed to stimulate and support collaborative research — one for collaborations between experienced research scientists and community members/agencies (the Community-Initiated Research Collaboration (CIRC) Award), and one for collaborations between research scientists in different fields and institutions (the Translational Research Collaboration (TRC) Award). Both types of awards were designed to offer a one-year Pilot Award to foster the development of teams and their projects, with larger awards for full projects to be offered in 1998.
Special Considerations
Innovativeness
In keeping with the intent of the enabling legislation, the Council focuses
on funding especially innovative and creative research. Every grant application
is scored by reviewers on this aspect, which the Council weighs, in making
its final funding recommendations.
Multidisciplinary Research
The Council encourages researchers to apply ideas from various fields to
their research by collaborating across disciplines. This aspect of applications
is also rated by reviewers and taken into consideration in making funding
decisions.
Translational Potential
A goal of the CBCRP is to encourage the translation of scientific findings
into practical applications that will make a difference to those at risk
for, or diagnosed with, breast cancer. The potential of research findings
to be translated into practical applications is rated by reviewers and taken
into consideration in funding decisions.
Focus on the Underserved
Another issue identified by the Council as critically important is the disparity
in the incidence and mortality of breast cancer between different groups
of Californians. Research which has the potential to reduce these disparities
was specifically requested in the Call for Applications, identified by reviewers
and considered by the Council in making funding recommendations.
Strategic Objectives in Research Support
The legislation that established CBCRP lays forth additional objectives for the Program:
- “Provide for systematic dissemination of research results to the public and the health care communityin order that these findings may be applied to the planning, implementation, and evaluation of breast cancer-related programs.”
- “Develop policies and procedures to facilitate the translation of research results into commercial, alternate technological, and other applications”
- “Development of appropriate linkages to nonacademic entities, including voluntary organizations, health care delivery systems, industry, government agencies, research entrepreneurs, and public officials.”
Dissemination of Research Results
The CBCRP is committed to disseminating the results of research that it funds, both to the scientific and medical communities (to facilitate the advancement of the understanding of breast cancer and its treatment among all involved) and to the public (as stakeholders in the Program). To this end, funded research is widely publicized in a variety of ways:
- Descriptions of new awards are published in the Compendium of Awards
- The progress of each project is summarized yearly and posted on our web site
- Final results of projects are described on the web site and in the annual report
- Publications are widely distributed and posted on the web site
Researchers also publish final results and present them at scientific conferences; these publications and presentations are tracked by CBCRP. The 1997 California Breast Cancer Research Symposium served to disseminate results in a more interactive and visible fashion. A Council Committee, formed in 1997, is examining other means to achieve this aim.
1997 California Breast Cancer Research Symposium
On September 16, 1997, CBCRP hosted a symposium in Sacramento, that brought together individuals with a wide variety of backgrounds, but a common interest in determining the cause of, and cure for, breast cancer. This symposium was distinct from most other scientific symposiums in that it had a strong attendance by breast cancer advocates and the community at large.
The content and the composition of the symposium reflected the goals of CBCRP. Over half of the more than 700 attendees characterized themselves as lay people. The symposium was designed for maximal exposure to all sides of the breast cancer fight. The activities available to the participants included: listening to the motivational keynote speakers; viewing artwork by and about people with breast cancer; visiting exhibits by non-profit breast cancer organizations; attending informational seminars about how to be funded to do breast cancer research; and attending talks and posters given by investigators who were funded by CBCRP.
The keynote speakers exemplified the spirit of CBCRP. They came from the worlds of science, breast cancer advocacy and governmental affairs. Former congresswoman and activist, Bella Abzug; renowned cell biologist and Director of Ernest O. Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's Life Sciences division, Mina J. Bissell, Ph.D.; former California state assemblywoman and sponsor of CBCRP, Barbara Friedman; and breast cancer advocate and first Breast Cancer Research Council chair, Susan Claymon all gave their uniquely insightful views of the breast cancer movement landscape and the role of CBCRP in it. In spite of their different perspectives on the fight against breast cancer, and perhaps because of it, there was a consensus of opinion that we will only succeed if people from all backgrounds combine their efforts.
The symposium provided an excellent showcase for the research funded by CBCRP in the first three years of the program's existence. The research was presented in the form of posters and oral presentations. The more than 80 scientific presentations reflected the scope of high quality research funded by CBCRP.
The information available at the CBCRP symposium went beyond the CBCRP sponsored research and emerging results. Forty non-profit organizations exhibited at the symposium. Their exhibits explained the current practical knowledge of what we can do to address breast cancer for ourselves, and as society as a whole. They passed on the current thinking about breast care and identified areas where political actions are needed.
Art exhibits brought forward the urgent need to conquer breast cancer.
In a world where symposiums can be emotionally reserved, this one touched the heart as well as the mind. The artwork was moving and kept the faces of people battling breast cancer foremost in the minds of the symposium participants.
Translation of Research Results into Practical Applications
A goal of the CBCRP is to encourage the translation of research findings into practical applications that will make a difference to those at risk for, or diagnosed with, breast cancer. Facilitating this process is one of the charges of the Council. One strategy to achieve this goal has been outreach to California biotechnology researchers to encourage applications from those most involved in translational efforts.
In 1996, the Council and CBCRP staff together developed a new award type (the Translational Research Collaboration Award, or TRC Award) to specifically solicit research proposals for translational research that arises from partnerships of research scientists from different fields and/or institutions (especially encouraging collaborations between academic and industry-based biotechnology researchers). This award type, offered for the first time in 1997, is helping to spread CBCRP's principle of translation and collaboration throughout the research community in the state and is resulting in teams across the state who are poised to take research results and use them to develop products, treatments, and services. A Council Committee, formed in 1997, is examining other means to achieve this aim.
Collaboration with Communities
Close collaboration with organizations and individuals involved in breast cancer issues is a guiding principle of the CBCRP.
Close collaboration with organizations and individuals involved in breast cancer issues is a guiding principle of the CBCRP. The 16-member Council includes five breast cancer advocates. These members are well respected for their years of exemplary service in the fight against breast cancer, and bring community perspectives to the Council's decisions. Each Review Committee that evaluates grant proposals includes two advocates who serve as voting members, and a third who serves as a non-voting observer from California and provides feedback on the process. This representation and participation at all levels of decision-making ensures that community and survivor viewpoints are considered in every Program activity.
Information is disseminated to communities through distribution of the CBCRP Bulletin, the Annual Report, the Compendium of Awards and conferences (which are open to all interested). An internet web site provides access to all CBCRP documents including publications, Council meeting minutes and progress reports of funded projects.
In addition, the CBCRP Director interacts with, and serves on various committees for other agencies and organizations, including the Department of Health Services Breast Cancer Early Detection Advisory Committee, the Breast Cancer Treatment Fund Advisory Committee, the American Cancer Society, the Lesbian Health Fund, The Breast Cancer Fund, and Breast Cancer Action.
These efforts establish effective dialogue with groups and individuals involved in breast cancer issues. They assure wide dissemination of research results, funding priorities that are important to those most affected by breast cancer, and funded projects that respond to these priorities.
As a result of feedback from the 1996 Public Advisory Meeting, the Council and staff together developed a new award type (the Community-Initiated Research Collaboration Award, or CIRC Award) to specifically solicit research proposals that arise from communities and are developed and carried out by partnerships of community members and experienced research scientists. This award type, offered for the first time in 1997, is helping to spread CBCRP's principle of community involvement and collaboration throughout the research community in the state and is resulting in investigations in areas of research identified by, and important to, communities across the state.
