NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) – The National Institutes of Health plans to issue a request for applications this fall to fund multidisciplinary research into possible environmental influences on breast cancer risk, including studies of how genetics and environmental influences affect disease risk.
The Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Program (BCERP), a cooperative effort between the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the National Cancer Institute, will support parallel ongoing epidemiological investigations, according to an NIH notice that was issued to give researchers time to prepare applications.
It will fund transdisciplinary research into how an array of environmental and genetic factors may affect disease risk across a woman's lifespan.
NIH wants applications from experts on the role of environmental exposures on the development of the mammary gland and breast cancer risk to begin to consider applying for these new FOAs. It also seeks collaborative investigations that combine epidemiology, lab-based investigation, and community outreach.
The BCERP will have two branches. One will focus on novel experimental and clinical studies that focus on gene-environment interaction and the molecular mechanisms that affect a woman's disease risk. The second arm will fund the Breast Cancer & the Environment Research Coordinating Center, which will store, manage, and analyze data collected from biosamples.
NIH expects to publish the funding opportunity announcements in September, and it plans to set its application deadline for Nov. 30.