California Breast Cancer Prevention Initiatives

In 2004, CBCRP launched Special Research Initiatives (SRI), which devoted 30 percent of CBCRP research funds to support coordinated, directed and collaborative research on the identification and elimination of environmental causes of breast cancer and the identification and elimination of disparities and inequities in the burden of breast cancer in California. These resulted in many successful research projects (pdf).

In March 2010, the Council decided to build on the existing SRI by devoting 50 percent of CBCRP research funds between 2011 and 2015 to program initiated research. This new effort is titled the California Breast Cancer Prevention Initiatives. The ultimate goal of this funding strategy is to support research that not only increases knowledge about these questions, but also points to solutions that will reduce the suffering from breast cancer and move science closer to eliminating the disease. Approximately $24 million will be dedicated to supporting directed, coordinated, and collaborative research projects to pursue approaches to:

1. Identify and eliminate environmental causes of breast cancer.
2. Identify and eliminate disparities/inequities in the burden of breast cancer in California.
3. Population-level interventions (including policy research) on known or suspected breast cancer risk factors and protective measures.
4. Targeted interventions for high-risk individuals, including new methods for identifying or assessing risk.

In March 2015, CBCRP’s Council approved fifteen (15) concept proposals to stimulate compelling and innovative research in all four topical areas of the CBCPI (environmental causes, health disparities, population-level interventions and targeted interventions for high risk individuals).  A series of funding opportunities will be released over the next two years reflecting these concepts.