Sharing Our Research with Scientist and the Public
Funding good research isn't enough. If the research is going to have an impact in the fight against breast cancer, a wide range of people need to know the results. The scientific community needs to know, to make progress against the disease. The medical community needs to know, to improve prevention and treatment. Women with breast cancer need the opportunity to learn about new treatment options. Breast cancer activists need information about research results to help shape the fight against the disease. Communities affected by breast cancer need to know what's been proven to work in other communities. And the taxpayers of California need to know what their taxes are funding.
The scientists whose projects we fund publish the results in peer-reviewed scientific journals and present them at scientific conferences. However, the California Breast Cancer Research Program is committed to making the research we fund available to a much wider public. We publish and distribute our research widely, in print and over the Internet. We are one of the few research funding programs in the world to publish annual summaries of research while the studies are still in progress. BCRP does this so scientists and other interested people can make use of the information as soon as possible. We get out the word about our research results and research progress in a variety of ways:
Research Symposia
Every other year, we host a Research Symposium, a statewide conference presenting the results of the research we fund. Our Symposium draws more breast cancer advocates and members of the public than is usual for such a scientific meeting. Our researchers present their findings in language geared toward the general public, and the meeting creates an opportunity for dialog between research scientists and breast cancer activists. During 2000, we laid the groundwork for our next Symposium, in Oakland, September 2001.
Website
Our website is open to the public. It has summaries of all completed research projects and annual progress reports for ongoing projects, in language accessible to the general reader. For anyone who wants a more detailed description, our summaries are linked to PubMed Abstracts, a public access website for all published scientific studies. Our website also contains a list of each year's awards and information on applying for grants.
Annual Reports
Our Annual Report, available free of charge to the public, contains summaries of all ongoing and completed research for the year. Multiple copies of our Annual Reports are available free of charge to organizations; the 1999 Annual Report was used during 2000 as a college text in a class for future health care professionals.
Summary of Awards
To make it easy for scientists and the public to follow BCRP-funded research from the beginning, we publish a summary of new projects funded for the year. The summary is free to the public and is also posted on our website.
Newsletter
Our newsletters, also available free to the public and posted on our website, report on new awards, research results and other program news.
Special Outreach
BCRP makes special efforts to share our research results; during 2000 we made a special effort with staff members of the statewide California Breast Cancer Early Detection Program. This state government program provides breast cancer screening to low-income women in our state and is funded by the same tax on tobacco that provides the majority of funding for the BCRP. Staff members at local early detection sites told us they needed more information on research progress in early detection. So BCRP provided a summary of early detection studies we've funded and brought a panel of early detection research experts to speak at a state-wide meeting for Early Detection Program lead staff. We plan to continue and expand this effort.
Serving the Media
When reporters from TV, newspapers, magazines or other media need information on breast cancer research, BCRP links them with appropriate experts.
Speakers and Educational Bureau
When community organizations want speakers on breast cancer research for meetings and public events, we provide referrals from our network of researchers and advocates. We also refer research experts to teach continuing education classes for health care professionals.
