U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command &
Fort Detrick Public Affairs/Marketing Office, Fort Detrick, Maryland

December 10, 2003

For Immediate Release:

Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program Awards Summary for Fiscal Year 2003.

Programmatic review for the fiscal year 2003 (FY03) Department of Defense (DOD) Breast Cancer Research Program (BCRP) has just been completed. The office of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) received $150 million from Congress in FY03 to fund peer reviewed breast cancer research. Of the 1543 proposals received in response to the FY03 Program Announcements, 240 have been approved for funding. Negotiations have begun and are expected to be completed by June 2004. The goal of the FY03 BCRP is to promote research directed toward eradicating breast cancer. The central theme of the BCRP is innovation. Within this context, the objective of the BCRP is to fund a balanced portfolio of scientifically meritorious research related to all aspects of breast cancer. The BCRP sought proposals in all areas of laboratory, clinical, behavioral, and epidemiologic research, and challenged the research community to design innovative research that will foster new directions for, address neglected issues in, and bring new investigators to the field of breast cancer research. Nine award mechanisms were offered: Idea, Clinical Translation Research, Innovator, Center of Excellence, Predoctoral Traineeship, Postdoctoral, Clinical Research Nurse, Physician-Scientist Training and Historically Black Colleges and Universities/Minority Institution Partnership Training Awards. For more information about the DOD Breast Cancer Research Program visit the CDMRP website: https://cdmrp.health.mil.

Points of Contact:
Gail Whitehead, Public Affairs Coordinator, 301-619-7783, gail.whitehead@amedd.army.mil
Richard Kenyon, BCRP Program Manager, 301-619-7071