About the California Breast Cancer Research Program
In 1993, California breast cancer activists joined forces with scientists, clinicians, state legislators and University of California officials to catapult the state into national leadership for breast cancer research.
The activists, most of them women with breast cancer or women who had survived it, were impatient with the slow pace of progress against the disease. With their allies, they wrote and won passage of statewide legislation to push breast cancer research in new, creative directions. The California Breast Cancer Act, sponsored by then-Assemblywoman Barbara Friedman, raised the tobacco tax by two cents a pack, with 45% of the proceeds going to what was then, and still is, the largest state-funded breast cancer research effort in the nation, the California Breast Cancer Research Program.
Funded primarily by the tobacco tax, and supplemented with taxpayer donations selected on state income tax returns, and private contributions, the California Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP) has provided a total of $97,775,174 in research funds since 1995. In 2000, the BCRP awarded $16,048,295 for 70 single- and multiple-year grants at 22 California institutions.
During our six-year history, the BCRP has established a record for filling gaps not covered by other research funders, jump-starting new areas of research and fostering new types of collaboration. Three examples of BCRP funding strategies illustrate how we push the boundaries of research:
- To tap the expertise of people most affected by breast cancer, the BCRP has pioneered collaboration between research scientists and nonprofit organizations, including community clinics, organizations serving women with breast cancer, and organizations serving minority communities. The collaborations are available in even wider circles. "Not a Breast Cancer Researcher? Concerned Community Member?" say headlines on the cover of our call for research applications. Inside, the call invites Californians with promising research ideas to team up with professional scientists.
- Because the results of basic science research can sit on the shelf for years, with no one in the scientific community being aware of any possible implications for fighting breast cancer, the BCRP also makes "translation" grants. These grants spark collaboration between basic research scientists and scientists who may be able to translate the findings into improvements in breast cancer treatment.
- Since the disease is still raging despite increased research efforts, new breakthroughs are likely to come from thinking outside established patterns of scientific thought. So the BCRP brings together scientists from different fields to develop creative ideas outside traditional research channels. An example is 2000's Cancer and Complexity Conference in Berkeley, which brought researchers in breast cancer biology together with experts in new computer modeling technology.
California Breast Cancer Research Program's Key
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The BCRP's structure has set a standard for community involvement that has inspired similar changes in other research funding agencies around the nation. Breast cancer activists play a leading role in every aspect of our work, from setting research priorities to recommending grants for funding, to getting out the word about research results.
A part of the University of California, the BCRP is under the direction of the Office of the President in Oakland, with a staff managing the solicitation, review, award and oversight of grants.
Our 15-member advisory Breast Cancer Research Council includes scientists, clinicians, representatives of industry and non-profit health organizations, and five breast cancer advocates. The Council provides vision, sets research priorities and determines investment strategy. It also conducts one of two reviews every proposal must pass to receive funding. The Council reviews research proposals for relevance to the BCRP's goals, while teams of research scientists and breast cancer advocates from outside California also review all proposals for scientific merit.
In addition, all Californians concerned about breast cancer have opportunities to help set the research agenda via the BCRP's statewide advisory meetings, open to the public. Our bi-annual research symposia bring the scientific and treatment communities into dialog with a broader range of the public than is common at such conferences. We also encourage public review of BCRP-funded research through our website and this Annual Report.
By bringing the research, advocacy and treatment communities into closer collaboration, the California Breast Cancer Research Program pushes the boundaries of research, mobilizing greater creativity and resources, toward decreasing-and ending-the suffering and death caused by breast cancer.
Revenue from the California Breast Cancer Research Program's main source of funds, the tax on tobacco, decreases every year. You can support innovative breast cancer research in California by:
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