Federal and State Funding for Breast Cancer Research

One of CBCRP's mandates is to “fund innovative and creative research, with a special emphasis on research that complements, rather than duplicates, the research funded by the federal government and other entities.”

A major accomplishment of CBCRP towards this goal in 1998 was the creation and convening of the nationwide Breast Cancer Research Funders Network.

Until 1998, there had never been a meeting of the many agencies throughout the U.S. that fund breast cancer research. In fact, it was difficult to keep track of how many programs existed, and even more so to track what each agency was funding. The lack of information and communication was a barrier for CBCRP in one of its primary goals—to emphasize research that complements, rather then duplicates, the research funded by other entities. While we have presented in past reports an analysis of research funded by CBCRP as compared to other agencies, these analyses have lagged at least a year from actual funding due to the slow release of public information, and have not included all of the agencies funding breast cancer research.

To remove this barrier, not only for CBCRP but for all agencies involved in breast cancer research funding, CBCRP proposed forming a network of these agencies to share information, ideas, and resources. The idea was enthusiastically received and, in July, 1998, the first ever gathering of breast cancer research funding agencies from around the country was held. The meeting, co-sponsored by the California Breast Cancer Research Program and the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program, was attended by representatives from 12 research funding agencies:

The meeting provided participants with the opportunity to learn about the structure, history, priority issues, award mechanisms, and funding decision protocols of national, private, and state-run breast cancer research funding agencies. It was hoped that this information sharing would allow each to contribute to breast cancer research in the most meaningful and informed way possible.

The following conclusions were reached:

The research priority emphases of the different programs vary, as do the types of funding that the programs offer. Some programs emphasize specific areas of breast cancer research, while others prioritize their funding based entirely on the scientific merit of the proposals they receive. Several programs target socio-cultural issues and prevention as funding priorities. A few programs emphasize research into the biology of the normal breast. All of the programs include some funding mechanism or review criterion that rewards innovation in a proposal.

There was general agreement that advocacy has an important role in breast cancer research funding. All of the agencies include advocates in some level of their decision-making processes and most of the agencies use advocates in the grant review process.

The definition of translational research differs between the programs. The level of translation, the strictness with which it is applied, and the degree to which other elements such as infrastructure development and diffusion of results are considered all play into how each program designed its translational awards. Most agencies want to build the facilitation of translational research into their priorities, but few have successfully developed a means to do so.

The vision for smaller versus larger funding organizations was generally the same. No particular area of the breast cancer research landscape can only be served by a funding agency of a given size; however, due to limited funds the smaller agencies have to target their resources differently. Because of these limitations, smaller agencies generally provide seed funds for research projects, post-doctoral/new investigator awards, and IDEA type grants.

Attendees unanimously agreed that a method for rapid exchange of information was critical for any program that wished to avoid duplication of efforts with other programs. For this reason, the CBCRP developed a private e-mail list-serve that allows agencies to communicate effectively and to exchange confidential (or not yet public) information. This e-mail network has resulted in sharing of resources, policies, procedures and ideas, and has made each program more effective.

CBCRP is now working to create a universal research classification scheme that will encourage agencies to report their funding in a uniform manner. This will permit agencies and the public to compare the research portfolios of the different agencies in a more meaningful way. Such reporting and analysis will be a major advance in developing research strategies, and help ensure that each dollar spent on breast cancer research, in California and throughout the country, is used in the best possible way.