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Action Requested NBCC asks Senators and Representatives to urge the Defense Appropriations Subcommittees to include a separate appropriation of $150 million in the Department of Defense bill text to fund the DOD peer-reviewed Breast Cancer Research Program in FY 2009.
NBCC applauds the 214 bipartisan Members of the House of Representatives and the 57 Senators who signed on to letters supporting $150 million for the DOD BCRP in FY 2009. Representatives Nita Lowey (D-NY), Tom Davis (R-VA), Judy Biggert (R-IL) and Jim McGovern (D-MA) sponsored the letter in the House. Senators Tom Harkin (D-IA), Olympia Snowe (R-ME), Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Susan Collins (R-ME) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) sponsored the letter in the Senate. Background The Department of Defense (DOD) peer-reviewed Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP) was created in 1992 as a result of the National Breast Cancer Coalition’s “$300 Million More” campaign to increase federal funding for breast cancer research. Due to NBCC’s efforts and the Congressional leadership of Senators Tom Harkin and Alfonse D’Amato (R-NY), in FY 1993 Congress appropriated $210 million in the DOD research and development budget for a breast cancer research program administered by the Department of the Army. As a result of NBCC’s grassroots advocacy, Congress has approved funding for the Program each year since, totaling $2.1 billion dollars (see attached chart). For FY 2009, NBCC is requesting $150 million.
Highlights of the DOD BCRP The DOD peer-reviewed Breast Cancer Research Program is vital to helping us find out how to prevent and cure breast cancer. This Program should be funded at $150 million in FY 2009 because it is: Innovative and Unique. The DOD BCRP is a one-of-a-kind research program because of its innovative grants and structure, which bring scientists and consumers together to make decisions at every step.
A Demonstrated Success. This Program’s success has been corroborated in a number of arenas: in two separate, highly favorable reviews conducted in 1997 and 2004 by the Institute of Medicine (IOM), at four public meetings to report the Program’s progress, and in Congressional committee report language which recommended that this Program continue.
Efficient. The Program’s low overhead costs ensure that over 90% of the funding goes directly to competitive, peer-reviewed research grants.
Transparent and Accountable to the Public. Every DOD BCRP grant (including proposals, funding level, researcher, abstracts and publications) can be viewed at the Program’s website (http://cdmrp.army.mil./bcrp). All grantees must present the results of their research at public meetings.
This year approximately 240,000 women and 2030 men will be diagnosed with breast cancer. Nearly 40,000 women and 450 men will die from the disease. NBCC urges the Administration and Congress to continue funding this Program so that new research can help us learn how to prevent and cure breast cancer.
Unique Aspects of DOD BCRP
The DOD BCRP has grown from a small research Program to a far-reaching, influential model that has changed the world of breast cancer research. It has expedited progress in breast cancer research and has become a model that other research programs have sought to replicate. Three of its most unique features are: Non-traditional grant mechanisms have been developed in this competitive, peer-reviewed research Program. For example, Innovative Developmental and Exploratory Award (IDEA) grants stimulate and reward high risk but especially promising ideas. Creative, visionary researchers can receive support early in their careers. The Program also funds translational research and brings clinical trials into community settings.
Consumer advocates play an integral role in the review system. Consumer advocates and scientists participate in a two-tiered process during which research proposals are reviewed first for scientific quality and then for programmatic relevance. The IOM’s review and other independent researchers have commended the involvement of consumer advocates in all aspects of priority setting and the peer-review process.
Researchers must report their results at public meetings. At these “Era of Hope” meetings scientists, consumers, policy-makers and the public hear the progress made in breast cancer research through this Program. Investigators from different fields come together to share knowledge and ideas, resulting in novel approaches to difficult research problems.
Demonstrated Success of the BCRP
The Institute of Medicine reviewed the DOD BCRP in 1997 and 2004, finding its “performance has met with the approval of scientists, the satisfaction of legislators and their constituents, pride on the part of the program’s administrators, and results.” Congress has also validated the Program repeatedly, including report language to accompany its DOD Appropriations bills verifying the Program’s success and recommending its continuation. For more information on this or NBCC’s other legislative priorities, please contact NBCC’s Government Relations Department at (202) 296-7477
FY Actual Appropriation FY 93
FY 94
FY 95
FY 96
FY 97
FY 98
FY 99
FY 00
FY 01
FY 02
FY 03
FY 04
FY 05
FY 06
FY 07
FY 08
FY 09 request | $210 million
25 million
150 million
75 million
100 million
135 million
135 million
175 million
175 million
150 million
150 million
150 million
150 million
127.5 million
127.5 million
138 million
150 million |
TOTAL FUNDING: $2.1 BILLION | |
