Risky Research Pays Off
Grant from the California Breast Cancer Research Program Enables Researcher to Pursue Green Tea Analogs
Oakland, CA—November 1, 2003—Dr. Nurulain Zaveri was a young scientist at SRI International pursuing a novel idea—prevent breast cancer by synthesizing green tea to maximize benefits and reduce side effects. But most funding agencies avoid new researchers and risky research, and finding funding was difficult until she came to the California Breast Cancer Research Program (CBCRP). Several years and multiple grants later, Dr. Zaveri has found success.
"One of the CBCRP's best features is that it nurtures new avenues into breast cancer research," says Dr. Zaveri. "Their New Investigator and IDEA grants are immediately relevant to the problems of breast cancer patients, and could yield answers in the very near future. At SRI, CBCRP-funded research has generated several new drug candidates that will be further developed for treatment of breast cancer. Several novel drug targets have been studied on CBCRP grants. CBCRP-funded research has made giant leaps into several research areas of breast cancer, not matched by any federal or state-funded programs in the entire country."
The California Breast Cancer Research Program (CBCRP) funds innovative breast cancer research that other funding agencies generally avoid. "We're willing to take a chance, whether on a risky idea, a young researcher, or a researcher entering the breast cancer field from another area of study," says Mhel Kavanaugh-Lynch, M.D., M.P.H., director of the CBCRP. "The unique grants we fund represent new opportunities to prevent breast cancer and to contribute significantly to the treatment of the disease."
Dr. Zaveri recently presented her work at the American Association for Cancer Research's 2nd Annual Frontiers in Cancer Prevention Research, and at the California Breast Cancer Research Program's From Research to Action—A Decade of Progress Symposium.
For more information about Dr. Zaveri's study:
Dr. Zaveri's CBCRP-funded studies
AACR (different Web site)
For more information about the California Breast Cancer Research Program: www.cbcrp.org
The CBCRP
Created by the State Legislature in 1993, the 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 569 grants to 62 scientific institutions and community entities, totaling nearly $150 million for research in California to prevent, treat, and cure breast cancer. 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, the State tobacco tax, and individual contributions. For more information call 1.888.313.BCRP, or visit www.cbcrp.org.
