Despite decades of advancement in treatment research, people continue to be diagnosed with breast cancer at astounding rates — rates that have remained essentially unchanged over the past three decades.
To address this staggering statistic, the California Breast Cancer Research Program (CBCRP) today (Sept. 21) has launched the Global Challenge to Prevent Breast Cancer to surface game-changing breast cancer primary prevention research ideas.
CBCRP is seeking ideas from researchers, advocates, patients, activists, laypeople — anyone with a brilliant idea. The challenge is one of the signature commitments to the Biden Cancer Community Summit, the Biden Cancer Initiative’s nationwide effort to double the rate of progress against cancer, taking place today in Washington, D.C.
“Breast cancer prevention research has been significantly underfunded: of the $2 billion in annual funding for breast cancer research, less than 10 percent is dedicated to prevention,” says Olufunmilayo Olopade, M.D., FACP, OON, Walter L. Palmer Distinguished Service Professor of Medicine and Human Genetics, associate dean for Global Health, and director of the Center for Clinical Cancer Genetics at the University of Chicago. ”The Global Challenge is an exciting initiative that we hope will lead to new scientific discovery and help prevent the more than 2 million cases of breast cancer that are diagnosed each year. ”
By providing cash prizes, feedback from respected researchers and the opportunity to present ideas to prominent leaders in the field, the challenge aims to surface transformative ideas that will help catalyze the field of breast cancer primary prevention research.
CBCRP is accepting applications in two categories: one for researchers and one for advocates, defined as anyone who is not a scientist.
Applicants can submit their ideas up until January 7, 2019 at: ToPreventBreastCancer.org. The most promising ideas will frame CBCRP’s future funding strategy and will be further developed in California with $15 million in grant funding from the program.
The mission of the California Breast Cancer Research Program (CBCRP) is to prevent and eliminate breast cancer by leading innovation in research, communication and collaboration in the California scientific and lay communities. CBCRP is the largest state-funded breast cancer research effort in the United States and is administered within the University of California Office of the President.
Since 1994, CBCRP has awarded more than $280 million in research funds to institutions across California. CBCRP strives to push research in areas that are often underfunded or overlooked, including environmental exposures, health disparities and primary prevention.
To learn more about the global challenge: ToPreventBreastCancer.org
To learn more about CBCRP visit www.CABreastCancer.org.
Information about the Biden Cancer Community Summit can be found at https://bidencancer.org/events/
