Sharing Our Research With Scientists and the Public

Funding good research isn’t enough. If the research is going to be effective in reducing or ending the suffering caused by breast cancer, 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 them decide which changes they want to push for. 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 their 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 summaries of 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, and we do 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 progress and results in a variety of ways:

Research Symposia
Every other year, we host a research symposium, a statewide conference presenting the results of the research the CBCRP funds. Six hundred people attended our fourth symposium, “From Research to Action: a Decade of Progress”, held September 12–14, 2003, in San Diego.

The Symposium provided a forum where research scientists presented their findings to a concerned public. Equally important, women whose lives have been affected by the disease shared their priorities and hopes with researchers.

We make a special effort to bring women who have, had, or are at risk for breast cancer to our symposia. For this symposium, 75 women received scholarships that covered their travel and accommodations.

A Saturday Keynote Lunch brought all participants together. Sarah Weddington, J.D., the attorney who took the landmark Roe v. Wade case to the US Supreme Court, gave the keynote address, discussing her own experience with breast cancer.

Researchers funded by the CBCRP discussed the implications of their results in workshops and panels, including “Diet and Breast Cancer” and “New Treatment Strategies.” Scientists and breast cancer advocates were also on hand to discuss research projects showcased on over 100 colorful posters.

The three-day event included a breakfast session where scientists, clinicians, and lay people discussed topics of interest in small groups.

An art exhibition, ongoing throughout the symposium, used paintings, quilts, photography, sculpture, and other media to reflect the far-reaching impact of breast cancer. Some of the work was done by seasoned, award-winning artists and other pieces were done by people new to art’s transforming power. The exhibiting artists included women diagnosed with breast cancer, their family members, and their friends.

Representatives of community organizations from around the state provided information on their breast-cancer-related programs. The event included an additional day of training for members of community organizations and research scientists interested in teaming up to conduct research with funding from the CBCRP’s Community Research Collaboration (CRC) grants.

The symposium included a community town-hall “CBCRP Listens” meeting. Everyone attending was invited to give feedback on the research we fund, the symposium, and our other activities. The CBCRP takes this feedback from the public seriously. We’ve changed our research priorities as a result of previous feedback sessions like this one, and we also use this feedback to help set the agenda for the symposium itself. At the last symposium, participants asked, “Why don’t you do more research on cancer and the environment?” One result was this symposium’s plenary panel on “Environment and Breast Cancer Prevention.”

The next symposium, scheduled for September 9–11, 2005, will be held in Sacramento.

Web Site
The CBCRP Web site (www.cbcrp.org) has summaries of all completed research projects and annual progress reports for ongoing projects, in language accessible to the general reader. During 2003, all research on the CBCRP Web site became fully searchable. The summaries also link to the National Institute of Health’s (NIH’s) PubMed, a public-access database of biomedical journals, when researchers publish the results of their studies. Our Web site contains a list of each year’s awards and information on applying for grants.

In addition, all CBCRP publications are available and downloadable. The site links visitors to a wide variety of information on breast cancer research going on today across the nation. During 2003, we upgraded the site to include an online opportunity to make donations to the CBCRP.

Annual Reports
Our annual Advances in Breast Cancer Research, available free of charge to the public, contains summaries of all ongoing and completed research for the year. Multiple copies are available free of charge to organizations. Annual reports are also available on the CBCRP Web site.

Summary of Awards
To make it easy for scientists and the public to follow CBCRP-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 the CBCRP Web site.

Newsletter
Our newsletters, also available free to the public and posted on our Web site, report on new awards, research results, other program news, and important questions that arise among breast cancer researchers and women with the disease.

Serving the Media
We do regular outreach to the media about the Program and about CBCRPfunded research projects that are of interest to the general public. When reporters from TV, newspapers, magazines, or other media need information on breast cancer research, we link 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.