Limited Competition: Continuation of Studies on Early Environmental Exposures and Human Puberty (U01)

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Purpose. This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), issued by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and the National Cancer Institute (NCI), is a limited competition soliciting cooperative agreement (U01) applications from investigators supported under Project 2 (epidemiology project) of an existing Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Center (BCERC) Grant (RFA-ES-03-001). The purpose of this FOA is to continue support of the Centers ongoing longitudinal studies examining how environmental, genetic, biologic, lifestyle, and socioeconomic factors influence female pubertal development and subsequent breast cancer risk, with a continued emphasis on the essential role of collaboration between researchers and breast cancer advocates in attaining research goals. Continued follow-up of girls enrolled in the BCERC epidemiological studies will maximize the investment made in establishing these unique cohorts and increase power to draw significant conclusions regarding the impact of early environmental determinants on puberty. Studies will continue to use similar methods to collect data on pubertal endpoints, genetic variation, and environmental stressors of importance to future breast cancer risk and participate in pooled analyses across all three study sites. Researchers will collaborate with a local Community Outreach and Translation Core (COTC) that will assist with participant retention, build and promote partnerships among researchers, community members, and other stakeholders, ensure representation of the concerns of breast cancer advocates in formulating research questions, and develop and implement tools and materials to communicate study findings to the public and policy makers. Mechanism of Support. This FOA will utilize the NIH cooperative agreement (U01) grant mechanism and runs in parallel with two additional FOAs (RFA-ES-09-009 and RFA-ES-09-010) that will collectively constitute the Breast Cancer and the Environment Program (BCERP) network. Funds Available and Anticipated Number of Awards. The total amount of funding NIEHS and NCI expect to award through this mechanism is $2.9 million per year for five years. It is anticipated that up to three awards will be made through this announcement

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