RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FEDERAL AND STATE FUNDING
FOR BREAST CANCER RESEARCH

The enabling legislation for the Breast Cancer Research Program mandates that the Program fund research which complements, rather than duplicates, research funded by federal agencies. The Program has instituted procedures on several levels to respond to this legislative intent.

Some investigators who have been awarded Breast Cancer Research Program grants have federally-funded breast cancer research projects underway at the same time. Therefore, it is important not to award funds to an investigator who has already received federal funding for the proposed research project.

The Breast Cancer Research Program's procedures are designed to ensure that investigators' state-funded projects do not duplicate their federally-funded research. The research funded by the Program typically provides the investigators the opportunity to explore additional aspects of the topic they are investigating with federal grants, or to address different breast cancer research questions. As an example of the former, the federal government might fund an investigator to study a particular tumor suppressor gene, while the Breast Cancer Research Program funds the investigator to study other alleles (i.e., alternative forms) of this gene. As another example, a federal agency might fund an investigator to study a particular dietary component in breast cancer prevention, while the state Program funds this investigator to study the role of physical activity.

It is also important to avoid awarding funds for a project that is being conducted by another investigator with federal funds. It is especially difficult to ensure that such duplication does not occur because federal agencies are funding such a wide variety of breast cancer research projects. The Breast Cancer Research Program employs a systematic process to avoid funding breast cancer research that is being funded by federal agencies. This process includes the following four steps:

1. A National Advisory Meeting of breast cancer research experts and advocates was convened to solicit advice on how best to complement research funding available from federal agencies. The input received resulted in the choice of broad areas of research and funding mechanisms designed to encourage applications on breast cancer research issues that were not being well-funded by the federal government.
2. All investigators are required to include in their grant applications the following information about funded research and applications pending with other agencies: the funding agency; the project title; the specific aims of the proposed research project; the dollar amount and duration of funded and pending grant requests to other agencies; the percentage of the investigator's effort devoted to the project; and a description of any potential overlap with the study proposed in the BCRP application and what changes will be made to eliminate overlap should BCRP fund the grant. This information is verified by the Contracts and Grants Officer at the applicant institution.
3. Peer reviewers are asked, as part of their application evaluation, to note any actual or possible overlap between the proposed research and other research being conducted or planned by any investigator. If proposed projects are found to overlap significantly with currently-funded research they either are given a poor scientific merit score (because innovation and need for a study are elements of this score) or are asked to modify the proposed study to remove overlapping elements. Reviewers are selected in part because of their knowledge of research being conducted throughout the nation, so they are also in a position to note whether the proposed research appears to duplicate research being conducted by other investigators.
4. Once the grants to be awarded have been chosen, Program staff carefully review several administrative aspects before releasing funds. One of these aspects is potential duplication with other studies. Staff review the information described above, as well as grants being funded by the National Cancer Institute and the Department of Defense. If any actual or possible overlap is identified, the investigator is asked to either provide further information concerning the funded projects, or is asked to delete portions of the proposed work to eliminate such overlap. Program staff must be satisfied with the resolution before funds are released.

The primary federal agencies funding research into breast cancer are the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), and the U.S. Department of Defense. In 1995, the NCI supported 121 research projects in California which they determined to be entirely (60) or partially (61) focused on breast cancer, for a total of $25,318,541. Of these 121 research projects, 37 ($7.8 million) focus on the pathogenesis of breast cancer, 31 ($4.5 million) on treatment, 21 ($5.5 million) on etiology, 15 ($3 million) on prevention, 12 ($3.3 million) on early detection, and 5 ($1.1 million) on improved access.

The Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program awarded 61 new grants in California in 1993-1994, totaling $30,619,504. Forty-two of these grants were for research projects, 15 for research training, and 4 for infrastructure development. Of the 42 research projects, 15 focus on pathology of breast cancer, 10 on breast cancer treatment, 8 on etiology, 6 on early detection, 2 on improved access, and 1 on breast cancer prevention.

In this first funding cycle, the California Breast Cancer Research Program has expanded the range of breast cancer research being performed in the state. The Program placed a higher priority on issues which were receiving less funding from federal agencies and which are of particular interest in our state, especially prevention, etiology, and early detection (including improved access). It is also important to note that a number of BCRP's Cycle I grants focus on populations of special interest to California (e.g., racial and ethnic populations with large numbers of California residents). Furthermore, the California Breast Cancer Research Program increased funding for breast cancer research in the state by 35%, raising the total amount from $55,938,045 to $ 75,105,399. By continuing to direct state funds towards important topics in breast cancer that are less well-supported by federal research dollars and that are of particular importance in the state, the BCRP promises to accelerate progress in reducing the human and economic costs of breast cancer in California.