Improving the CBCRP through Evaluation
California taxpayers deserve to have the funds they provide for breast cancer research spent wisely. That’s why the California Breast Cancer Research Program is conducting a multi-year, formal evaluation of the entire program. Evaluation helps the program target research dollars where they will do the most to reduce and end the suffering caused by breast cancer.
Over the past several years, the CBCRP has evaluated several of its award types: the Community Research Collaboration awards, the Postdoctoral Fellowship awards, the New Investigator awards, and the Innovative, Developmental, Exploratory Awards (IDEAs). The results of these evaluations were used by the CBCRP’s advisory Breast Cancer Research Council to set priorities. These evaluations are available in print to the public and can also be viewed on the Program Web site. The CBCRP’s 2005 evaluation of the Community Research Collaboration awards is discussed more fully in this report in the section titled “Collaborating with Breast Cancer Activists and California Communities.”
Evaluation Leading to Improvement
Formal evaluations are used to improve the CBCRP. Examples of changes in the program made as a result of evaluations include:
- The CBCRP’s first formal evaluation of the program’s Community Research Collaborations, in 2000, led to a multi-year effort that has increased the number of community organizations and scientific researchers collaborating on breast cancer research questions of interest to communities of California women.
- A three-year priority-setting process led the CBCRP to invest 30 percent of its funds for five years to answer crucial questions about the influence of the environment and lifestyle on breast cancer, and to uncover the reasons why some groups in California bear more of the burden of the disease.
- CBCRP staff and the Program’s advisory council informally evaluated how CBCRP-funded research gets translated into new medications, new detection methods, new programs to support patients, policy changes, or other actions that have an impact on breast cancer. As a result, applicants for CBCRP research grants are now required to describe the steps necessary to translate their research project into action that impacts the disease.
