Policy Teams

From 2015 until 2022 the first CBCRP Policy Initiative was in place, according to the agreed Policy Implementation Plan. In 2015, two teams were selected in an open, peer-reviewed competition and were on-call to conduct Policy Initiative research projects

• Ninez Ponce, MPP, PhD (UCLA, Health Policy & Management): “Health Policy Research for Cancer Prevention and Control”
• Peggy Reynolds, PhD – (UCSF, Epidemiology & Biostatistics): “Rapid Response for Environmental Research (RaRE Research)”

In August 2022, CBCRP redesigned the Policy Initiative to establish an open call for each research question. Any policy research team in California is eligible to apply to conduct Policy Initiative research projects. The applications will be reviewed by a peer review committee of policy experts and advocates from outside California and recommendations for funding made by the Policy Research Advisory Group to the CBCRP Council for final decisions.

Funded Projects

To date, seven projects have been funded under the Policy Initiative:

#	Project Title	PI/Co-PI, Institution	Dates
1	Barriers to Breast Cancer Care in California	Ninez Ponce, UCLA	11/1/15 – 1/31/18 (including add-on)
2	Enhance Implementation of California’s Green Chemistry Initiative	Gina Solomon, PHI Peggy Reynolds, UCSF	1/29/18 – 1/28/19
3	Barriers to Metastatic Breast Cancer Care in California	Ninez Ponce, UCLA	11/15/19 – 5/14/20 (plus dissemination)
4	Awareness of Alcohol as a Risk Factor for Breast Cancer	Priscilla Martinez, PHI Peggy Reynolds, UCSF	1/1/20 – 6/30/20 (plus dissemination)
5	Strategies for Increasing Breastfeeding in Disadvantaged Communities	Ninez Ponce, UCLA	5/1/22 - 04/30/24 (plus dissemination)
6	Achieving Equity in Genomic Testing for Breast Cancer through Partner-Led Strategies and Policies	Manali Patel, Stanford	1/1/23 - 6/30/24
7	Policy Priorities for Equitable Access to Fertility Preservation by Breast Cancer Patients	Hui-Chun Su, UCSD	8/1/24 - 1/31/25

Key Outputs

• Ninez Ponce, Beth Glenn, Riti Shimkhada, A.J. Scheitler, Michelle Ko. Addressing Barriers to Breast Cancer Care in California: The 2016-2017 Landscape for Policy Change. 2018. http://healthpolicy.ucla.edu/publications/search/pages/detail.aspx?PubID=1595
• Gina Solomon, Peggy Reynolds, Anh Hoang. California’s Green Chemistry Initiative at Age 10: An Evaluation of Its Progress and Promise. 2018. https://www.phi.org/thought-leadership/californias-green-chemistry-initiative-at-age-10-an-evaluation-of-its-progress-and-promise/
• Gina Solomon, Anh Hoang, Peggy Reynolds. “The California Safer Consumer Products Program: Evaluating a Novel Chemical Policy Strategy” New Solutions. 2019. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1048291119850105
• Riti Shimkhada, Susan H. Babey, A.J. Scheitler, Beth Glen, Ninez Ponce. Barriers to Metastatic Breast Cancer Care in California: A Report to the California Breast Cancer Research Program. 2020. Barriers to Metastatic Breast Cancer Care in California: A Report to the California Breast Cancer Research Program (ucla.edu)
• Drink Less For Your Breasts campaign and website launched by the PHI. https://drinklessforyourbreasts.org
• Ninez Ponce, A.J. Scheitler, Riti Shimkhada, Susan Babey, May Sudhinaraset. Reducing Barriers to Breastfeeding in Disadvantaged Communities. 2024. Reducing Barriers to Breastfeeding in Disadvantaged Communities (ucla.edu)