Investigating Industry Influence Over Scientific Information on Breast Cancer and the Environment: Exploring the UCSF Industry Documents Library
The University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Industry Documents Library is a digital archive of documents from the tobacco, drug, chemical, food, and fossil fuel industries that exists “to preserve open access to this information and to support research on the commercial determinants of public health.” The Industry Documents Library was created in 2002, when internal documents from the tobacco industry were obtained and curated by the library at UCSF. Industry Documents Library now includes over 15 million emails, memos, papers, and other documents created by companies about their advertising, manufacturing, marketing, scientific research and political activities. Extensive research has already drawn upon the UCSF Industry Documents Library, but none of the over 800 journal articles published to date relate directly to breast cancer.
This project would involve exploratory research into the UCSF online Industry Documents Library to investigate documents that include mentions of breast cancer. The research would investigate two questions: (1) Is there research in the library into links between breast cancer and environmental exposures (including chemicals, smoking and diet) that was never published or publicly released? (2) Are there documents describing actions to influence public opinion related to breast cancer and environmental exposures? The goal of this study is to understand examine past efforts by the tobacco, chemical, drug, food, and fossil fuel industries to suppress public awareness of the link between breast cancer and environmental exposures.
Any individual or organization in California may submit an application. The research must be conducted primarily in California.
Download the RFP below:
Full Request for Proposals (RFP)
Application materials are available through CBCRP's SmartSimple application and grant management system.
Applications must be submitted by 12:00 pm PST on March 24, 2021.
For questions or more information, contact CBCRP Program Officer Nick Anthis at nicholas.anthis@ucop.edu or (510) 987-0358
Applicant webinar
We held an informational webinar for prospective applicants on February 16, 2021. The webinar covered the purpose of this initiative, how applications will be reviewed, and how to apply for this funding opportunity using CBCRP's SmartSimple application and grant management system. This webinar was recorded to serve as a resource for applicants going forward.
Research questions, approaches, and methods
This project would focus on two research questions involving the UCSF Industry Documents Library:
- Is there research in the archives into links between breast cancer and environmental exposures (including chemicals, smoking and diet) that was not previously published or publicly released?
- Are there documents in the archives describing actions to influence public opinion related to breast cancer and environmental exposure?
This project would primarily involve searching and analyzing documents in the UCSF Industry Documents Library. If there are any additional archives or internal industry documents that could be identified and accessed by the research team, these could also be included to broaden the base of documents used for the research.
The research team should include at least one member with expertise in established document archive research methods. The researchers performing this project would be expected to adhere to established qualitative research methodologies for documents research. The methods employed in documents research, which are also used by historians and social scientists who study archival data, involve iteratively reviewing data to construct a coherent account, supported by the available evidence and contextualized within the limitations of the documents archives. The researchers would be expected to document their search strategy and to document the steps of their investigation with research memos, according to standard practice in the field.
advocacy involvement
Advocacy involvement is a requirement for the research funded under this initiative. Applications should include a community advocate affiliated with an advocacy and/or community organization that is familiar with industry tactics, industry manipulation of science, and environmental contributors to breast cancer. The applicant may also involve additional breast cancer advocates or other community advocates.
Learn more about CBCRP's approach to advocacy involvement and view relevant resources here.
technical assistance from ucsf library staff
UCSF Library staff are available to provide technical assistance to the project team and answer questions about using the Industry Documents Library for prospective applicants. Examples include providing training and research assistance to the project team, performing processing work to edit and enhance metadata as needed, overseeing review of any privileged and confidential documents in order to open them for public research. Some forms of assistance may include costs that would need to be included in the proposed budget. Applicants are encouraged to contact the UCSF Library for technical questions about using the Industry Documents Library and to consult with library staff on potential forms of technical assistance and costs to include in proposed budgets. For questions specific to the UCSF Industry Documents Library, please contact, Kate Tasker, UCSF Industry Documents Library Managing Archivist, at kate.tasker@ucsf.edu.
Project duration and budget cap
CBCRP intends to fund one project.
- Maximum direct cost budget: $150,000
- Project duration: 1 year