Introduction

The California Breast Cancer Research Program (CBCRP) is pleased to announce the funding of 35 new research grants that will advance our knowledge about the community impact, biology, detection, and treatment of breast cancer. With these new awards we are investing over $7.1 million for research projects being performed at 21 institutions across the state.

The CBCRP supports breast cancer research in California from funds obtained through:

• A portion of a 2¢ per pack State cigarette tax
• Contributions from individuals using the State's income tax check-off option
• Donations from concerned community members dedicated to defeating breast cancer

The CBCRP is administered by the University of California, Office of the President, in Oakland. Our overall objectives, strategies, and priorities are developed with the assistance of a volunteer advisory council, which also recommends the grants to be funded. The council consists of 16 members: five are representatives of breast cancer survivor/advocacy groups; five are scientists/clinicians; two are members from nonprofit health organizations, one is a practicing breast cancer medical specialist, two are members from private industry, and one is an ex officio member from the DHS breast cancer early detection program, “Every Woman Counts.”

Below and in the sections to follow are:

• Application submission and new award data broken down by CBCRP research topics (priority issues) and award types
• Highlights of 2007 funding
• A portfolio summary and list of grants for our four main research priority issues 2007 Cycle 13 Compendium Page 2
• Funded California institutions and amounts awarded
• Description of the application evaluation process and the review committee membership

The full abstracts of these newly funded grants, as well as those from previous CBCRP funding cycles, can be found on our website: www.CAbreastcancer.org

Submissions & Review Process

We received 220 submissions in response to our 2007 Call for Applications for new research grants on breast cancer. They were evaluated, discussed in a study section format”, and scored for scientific merit by our out-of-state peer reviewers. Conference Award applications were reviewed by our advisory council.

The final tally of application submissions by CBCRP priority issues (i.e., invited research topics) and award types is shown below.

Table 1. Distribution of 2007 CBCRP application submissions by award type and priority issue

Award Type
↓
Priority Issues
Award
Type Totals
Etiology &
Prevention
Community
Impact
Detection Prognosis
& Treatment
Biology of the
Breast Cell
Postdoctoral
Fellowship
3
3
11
31
48
Dissertation
1
0
11
10
22
IDEA
14
3
51
35
103
IDEA-
Competitive Renewal
0
0
4
4
8
Translational
1
0
9
0
10
Conference
1
1
0
0
2
CRC Pilot
2
19
0
0
21
CRC Full
1
5
0
0
6
2007 Priority Totals
22
31
86
80
220

Compared to the previous year (2006/Cycle 12) we received almost 10% more applications. For our award types, we received 10 percent fewer IDEA applications; however, career development (Dissertation and Postdoctoral Fellowship) and CRCs increased in number. The Translational Research award was new for 2007. Although the majority of our applications are submitted under the “Detection, Prognosis & Treatment” priority issue, many of these are actually basic-science projects.

After the peer review, applications in the upper 2/3 of average scientific merit were rated by our advisory council for “responsiveness” to CBCRP programmatic criteria. There are seven criteria for each award type. To select grants for funding, the Council balanced the scientific merit scoring and programmatic ratings. Thus, the successful applicant responded both in terms of presenting a high quality research project and by meeting the interests of CBCRP stakeholders.

 

Overview of 2007 Funding

  • Applications submitted = 220
  • Applications offered and accepting funding = 35
  • Applications offered funding, but declined = 3
  • Overall success rate (38/220) = 17%
    Amount awarded in 2007 = $7,101,642

The two tables below summarize the 2007 funding distribution by award type and priority issue.

Table 2. 2007 portfolio distribution by CBCRP award type

Award Type
↓
Number of Applications
Grants Funded
(success rate)
Amount Awarded
Percentage of
total funding
Dissertation
22
8 (36%)
$599,863
5.1%
Postdoctoral
Fellowship
48
6 (12.5%)
$540,000
9.6%
IDEA*
103
9 (9%)
$1,478,389
51.4%
IDEA-
Competitive Renewal
8
3 (37.5%)
$1,004,677
4.7%
Translational
10
1 (10%)
$851,559
12.0%
CRC Pilot Award
21
3 (14%)
$566,641
7.8%
CRC Full Award
6
3 (50%)
$2,020,513
28.5%
Joining Forces
Conference
2
2 (100%)
$40,000
0.6%


Table 3. 2007 portfolio analyzed by CBCRP priority issue

Priority Issue
↓
Number of Applications
Grants Funded
(success rate)
Amount Awarded
Percentage of
total funding
Community
Impact
31
16 (19%)
$1,935,241
27.3%
Etiology &
Prevention
23
2 (9%)
$911,413
12.8%
Biology of the
Breast Cell
80
13 (16%)
$1,488,841
21.0%
Detection, Prognosis
& Treatment
86
14 (16%)
$2,766,147
39.0%

Comparing the 2007 vs. 2006 portfolios reveals a number of significant changes. Due to decreases in our revenue from the cigarette tax, we were able to award $2.7M less in 2007. As a result, the number of grants was reduced from 53 in 2006 to 35 this year. Three other reasons account for the reduced number of grants funded. First, the Translational Research award was introduced in 2007, and we awarded one in this cycle at a cost of $851,559. Second, we received a number of high quality IDEA-competitive renewals in 2007, so the funding for this award type increased by over $600,000. Third, funding for CRC-Full Research awards increased by over $500,000 this year. The net result of these factors substantially reduced our ability to fund IDEAs and postdoctoral fellowships in 2007 at levels comparable to the previous years. IDEA funding for 2007 was reduced by over 50% in terms of grant number and over 60% in terms of dollar amount when compared to 2005-2006 levels. Postdoctoral fellowships were also reduced modestly in award number and funding. In terms of research topics, we achieved a good portfolio balance between “treatment-oriented” and “basic science” projects, while “community impact” funding increased due to the excellent quality of CRC-Full Research award applications. Finally, In order to accommodate the 2007 portfolio into our available budget, our advisory council limited all postdoctoral fellowships to two-year grants; and the submitted budgets of the CRC-Full Research, IDEA-competitive renewal, and Translational Research grants were reduced by 10%.

2007/Cycle 13 Funding Highlights

 

Description of CBCRP Award Types