NBCCF launched its Research Initiative to facilitate the creation and testing of new models of collaboration, resource allocation and research design. NBCCF does not fund or try to influence individual investigators, institutions, or areas of research. Instead, we work to improve the entire research system by developing new research paradigms and partnerships that leverage all available resources and affect thousands. One shining example of NBCCF's success in this area is our leadership role in the creation of the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program (DOD BCRP).

NBCCF led the effort to create the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program (DOD BCRP). As a direct result of NBCCF's grassroots efforts, since 1992 over $2 billion has been allocated to peer-reviewed breast cancer research through this program.

Once mandated by Congress in 1992, NBCCF worked tirelessly to ensure advocate participation in all levels of decision-making within the program, from participation on the peer review panels to participation and leadership on the Integration Panel that oversees the entire program. NBCCF worked with Army officials and researchers to design a highly innovative and efficient research program. Following are just a sampling of the unique features of the DOD BCRP, some of which have since been replicated by other funding institutions around the world:

• Advocate participation in all levels of decision-making;
• Limited bureaucracy that allows the program to be flexible and respond efficiently to emerging scientific issues and public concerns;
• Innovative Developmental and Exploratory Awards (IDEA grants) that have been critical in responding to new discoveries and encouraging innovative, risk-taking research;
• Innovator Awards that are designed to recognize individuals, rather than projects, from any field of study by providing funding and freedom to pursue creative, potentially breakthrough, research; and
• "Era of Hope Conferences" at which every investigator funded through the DOD BCRP is required to report to the public in detail not only on the funds used, but also on the research undertaken, the knowledge gained from that research, and future directions to be pursued.

Without a doubt, the DOD BCRP has funded important breast cancer research that simply would not have been funded elsewhere. The most significant example so far has been the research that led to the understanding of the gene, HER2/neu, which is involved in the progression of some breast cancers. This research ultimately led to the development of the drug Herceptin®, a drug that has been shown to extend the lives of women with HER2/neu-positive breast cancer.

NBCCF has been the driving force behind the DOD BCRP since its inception. NBCCF's role in the DOD BCRP represents an unprecedented working relationship between advocates and researchers. This program has been recognized around the world as an important new research model with many innovative features. In its 1997 review of the DOD BCRP, the Institute of Medicine commended the program and stated, "The program fills a unique niche among public and private funding sources for cancer research. It is not duplicative of other programs and is a promising vehicle for forging new ideas and scientific breakthroughs in the nation's fight against breast cancer." Grassroots advocates lobby yearly to assure reallocation of funds to continue the work of the DOD BCRP.