California Breast Cancer Research Program Awards over $8 million to Researchers
October 15, 2008—Oakland, CA—The California Breast Cancer Research Program recently announced funding for nearly $8.1 million in research grants to California researchers seeking better ways to detect, treat, and prevent breast cancer, and to improve the quality of life for those affected by the disease. The program received 200 applications; following a rigorous two-step evaluation project, 42 applications from 23 California institutions and community organizations were selected for funding.
“These investigator-initiated research projects allow individual researchers and community groups to pursue their own research questions,” said Marion Kavanaugh-Lynch, M.D., M.P.H., director of the California Breast Cancer Research Program. “Individual efforts often lead to tremendous advances. We’re supporting projects that push boundaries and challenge existing paradigms in an effort to make the greatest impact against the disease.”
The grants focus on topics including tumor and normal breast biology, causes, prevention strategies, improvements in detection and treatment, and ways to reduce the impact of breast cancer within the community and for the individual. Six awards went to collaborative teams of community groups and traditional researchers to address important community issues, like breast cancer risk factors among underserved communities and improving access to care in rural communities.
Several grants support the career development of graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and new investigators just starting their independent breast cancer research careers. “We’ve found that support during the early years is instrumental in retaining quality researchers within breast cancer research, said Kavanaugh-Lynch.
Faith Fancher Research Award
Faith Fancher was a long-time television news anchor and personality with KTVU (Oakland) who waged a very public battle against breast cancer. She also was the founding member of the CBCRP Executive Team, which formed in 2001 to help raise the visibility and fundraising profile of our program. Faith passed away in October 2003 after a six-year struggle with breast cancer.
In Faith's honor, and to commemorate all that Faith Fancher did for breast cancer education and research, we have created the annual Faith Fancher Research award, which will be presented to a researcher, institution, or community-based organization whose work reflects those values that Faith held most closely and extends the work that Faith did for all women facing breast cancer.
The recipients of the 2008 Faith Fancher Research Award are Natasha Riley (Vista Community Clinic), Georgia Sadler (University of California, San Diego), and Vanessa Malcarne (San Diego State University) for their community collaborative project, Breast Cancer Clinical Trials Education Program. The overall goal of this research project is to increase participation in cancer trials by African American and Latina women. Low clinical trial participation by minorities is a problem because it: (1) limits researchers’ ability to apply findings to diverse populations; (2) often means that minorities will be given medical care based on research that involved mostly white middle class communities; and (3) means that cutting- edge medical care options usually associated with clinical research will not be available to minorities. This new program will use the theme, “women united against breast cancer ‘sisterhood’” in English and Spanish.
Tax Check-off Contributions Funding Research
Last year, California taxpayers donated $571,855 to the California Breast Cancer Research Program through the voluntary check-off area on their state income taxes. That money is earmarked specifically for research projects that the CBCRP advisory council believes will be of specific interest to Californians. Four awards received Tax Check-off funding:
Stratifying DCIS Biopsies for Risk of Future Tumor Formation
Thea Tlsty, Ph.D., University of California, San Francisco
Current management of DCIS (ductal carcinoma in situ) is characterized by over-treatment, because it has been difficult to identify which DCIS patients would benefit from more aggressive therapy. Dr. Tlsty recently found a pre-malignant DCIS subtype with high risk for future malignancy. With this translational research award, she will expand and confirm her previous results, with the goal of developing a rapid, inexpensive prognostic clinical test within three years that will provide individualized risk information for all women diagnosed with DCIS.
Reproductive Concerns and Depression among Younger Survivors
Jessica Gorman, University of California, San Diego
This dissertation award will address depression and fertility issues using data from approximately 200 younger breast cancer survivors who participated in the Women’s Healthy Eating and Living (WHEL) study. WHEL is a nutritional intervention designed to test whether a diet high in fruits and vegetables can lower breast cancer recurrence.
Pesticide and Gene Interactions in Latina Farm Workers
Paul Mills, Ph.D., M.P.H., University of California, San Francisco
This innovative study will examine the impact of genetic variants and exposures to organochlorine pesticides among Hispanic women in the San Joaquin Valley, where exposure to agricultural pesticides is known to be very high. Lately there has been renewed interest in a possible link between organochlorine pesticide exposure and risk for breast cancer, with evidence that timing of exposure with regard to breast development may be crucial to risk later in life.
Nanotherapy for Breast Cancer Targeting Tumor Macrophages
Gaurav Sarma, Ph.D., The Burnham Institute for Medical Research
This postdoctoral fellowship will explore the potential of targeting tumorassociated macrophages (TAMs) with nanoparticles. The goal is to design targeted chemotherapeutic compounds that spare other macrophages in the body.
Details about all of the funded projects, including abstracts may be found at www.CABreastCancer.org.
Summary of Funded Awards for 2008
Increasing the Voice of African American Women in Research
Kimlin Ashing-Giwa, Ph.D.
Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope
Mindful Movement Program for Breast Cancer Survivors
Rebecca Crane-Okada, Ph.D. (co-PI)
Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope
Holly Kiger, M.N. (co-PI)
WISE and Healthy Aging
Provider Communication and Health in Breast Cancer Survivors
Sara Fernandes-Taylor
University of California, Berkeley
APOS 5th Annual Conference
Patricia Ganz, M.D.
University of California, Los Angeles
Award Type: Joining Forces Conference
$15,000
Adapting a Breast Cancer Education Program for South Asians
Beth Glenn, Ph.D. & Roshan Bastani, Ph.D. (co-PIs)
University of California, Los Angeles
Zul Surani (co-PI)
South Asian Cancer Foundation
Quality of Mammography Facilities Serving Vulnerable Women
Lauren Goldman, M.D.
University of California, San Francisco
Reproductive Concerns and Depression among Younger Survivors
Jessica Gorman
University of California, San Diego
Breast Cancer Risk Reduction in American Indian Women
Linda Navarro (co-PI)
Turtle Health Foundation
Marlene von Friederichs-Fitzwater, Ph.D. (co-PI)
University of California, Davis
Increasing Mammography Screening in Latinas with Diabetes
Christine Noguera, M.S. (co-PI)
Golden Valley Health Centers
Steve Roussos, Ph.D. (co-PI)
San Diego State Research Foundation
Nail Salon Workers: Chemical Exposures in the Workplace
Linda Okahara
Asian Health Services
Latina Breast Cancer Survivors…Our Experience
Diana Tisnado, Ph.D. (co-PI)
University of California, Los Angeles
Brian Montaño, M.P.H. (co-PI)
Partnered for Progress
Breast Cancer Clinical Trials Education Program
Georgia Sadler, Ph.D. M.B.A. (co-PI)
University of California, San Diego
Natasha Riley, M.A. (co-PI)
Vista Community Clinic
Vanessa Malcarne, Ph.D. (co-PI)
San Diego State, Research Foundation
An Ecological Study of Quality of Life in Low-Income Women
Yoshiko Umezawa, Ph.D.
University of California, Los Angeles
Community Breast Cancer Screening & Prevention Conferences
Jeffrey Weitzel, M.D.
Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope
Neighborhoods and Obesity in Pre-Adolescent Girls: Part II
Irene Yen, Ph.D.
University of California, San Francisco
FGFR2 Signaling in Human Breast Cancer Cells
Daniel Donoghue, Ph.D.
University of California, San Diego
Antidepressant and Breast Cancer Drug Interactions
Reina Haque, Ph.D.
Kaiser Foundation Research Institute
Genes in Hormone Metabolism Pathway and Breast Cancer
Eunjung Lee, Ph.D.
University of Southern California
Folate, DNA Methylation and Breast Cancer Metastasis
Teresa Marple, Ph.D.
University of California, Davis
Pesticide and Gene Interactions in Latina Farm Workers
Paul Mills, Ph.D., MPH
University of California, San Francisco
Grapefruit, Hormones, and Postmenopausal Breast Cancer Risk
Kristine Monroe, Ph.D.
University of Southern California
Prognostic Implications of DNA Glycation in Breast Cancer
Daniel Tamae
Beckman Research Institute of the City of Hope
Novel Small Proteins for PET Imaging of Breast Cancer
Zhen Cheng, Ph.D.
Stanford University
Treating BC Brain Metastasis with Cytotoxic Lymphocytes
Barbara Mueller, Ph.D.
Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center
Development of a Breast MRI Computer-Aided Diagnosis System
Ke Nie
University of California, Irvine
Topoisomerase-IIa as a Predictor of Anthracycline Response
Michael Press, M.D.
University of Southern California
Functional Breast MRI with BOLD Contrast
Rebecca Rakow-Penner
Stanford University
Inhibition of TF Signaling as Novel Breast Cancer Therapy
Wolfram Ruf, M.D.
The Scripps Research Institute
Nanotherapy for Breast Cancer Targeting Tumor Macrophages
Gaurav Sarma, Ph.D.
The Burnham Institute for Medical Research
Novel Anti-HER2 Fragments for Better Detection and Therapy
Shannon Sirk
University of California, Los Angeles
Stratifying DCIS Biopsies for Risk of Future Tumor Formation
Thea Tlsty, Ph.D.
University of California, San Francisco
Imaging of Novel Stem Cell Therapy Targeting Breast Cancer
Joseph Wu, M.D., Ph.D.
Stanford University
Genetics of Tamoxifen Response
Elad Ziv, M.D.
University of California, San Francisco
Tumor Suppressor 14-3-3sigma in Breast Cancer Progression
Aaron Boudreau
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Role of Estrogen-modulated Protein AGR2 in Breast Cancer
Mikhail Geyfman
University of California, Irvine
Global Analysis of Protein Ubiquitination in Breast Cancer
Stefan Grotegut, Ph.D.
Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center
Regulation of Breast Stem-Progenitor Cell Chromatin by Pygo2
Bingnan Gu, Ph.D.
University of California, Irvine
Dietary Metabolite Inhibition of Breast Cancer Cell Survival
Holly Hantz
University of California, Berkeley
Nanolipoproteins to Study Breast Cancer Growth Receptors
Paul Henderson, Ph.D.
University of California, Davis
Dissecting the Role of Twist in Breast Cancer Metastasis
Janine Low-Marchelli
University of California, San Diego
Chemokine Receptor Signaling in Breast Cancer
Morgan O’Hayre
University of California, San Diego
Maternal Embryonic Leucine Zipper Kinase in Mammary Tumors
Robert Oshima, Ph.D.
The Burnham Institute for Medical Research
About the California Breast Cancer Research Program:
The mission of the California Breast Cancer Research Program (CBCRP) is to eliminate breast cancer by leading innovation in research, communication, and collaboration in the California scientific and lay communities.
Created by the State Legislature in 1993, the California Breast Cancer Research Program (CBCRP) is the largest state-funded breast cancer research program in the nation and is administered by the University of California, Office of the President. To date, the CBCRP has awarded 803 grants to 95 scientific institutions and community entities, totaling more than $189 million for research in California to prevent, treat, and cure breast cancer. Awards include traditional investigator-initiated projects, community-based collaborative research projects, and program-directed special research initiatives. Grants from the CBCRP fill gaps not traditionally funded by other research programs to jump-start new areas of investigation that push the boundaries of research and foster new collaborations. The CBCRP is funded through the voluntary tax check-off program on personal income tax form 540, a portion of the state tobacco tax, and individual contributions. For more information, call 888 313-2277, or visit www.cabreastcancer.org.
