Consumer reviewer experience

I finished the breast cancer grant reviewing on June 9th in Reston, VA. I was part of the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Program for Breast Cancer Research, which received $150 million from Congress this year. I got to meet 30 other breast cancer survivors who were also serving as consumer reviewers, 4 in total were affilitated with YSC. It was really wonderful to see several survivors 15 years out and very active in their communities. There were quite a number of organizations that I wasn't familiar with.

I enjoyed the process immensely even though they put you in a research area you are not familiar with so that you can "wear the consumer hat". So a lot of background reading involved. It was fun asking the scientific reviewers what kind of immediate impact the proposed research would have on breast cancer patients. They have several reviews a year so if anyone who is a survivor is interested in meeting scientists and seeing what the latest research idea is, check out the website: http://cdmrp.army.mil. The food, hotel, and travel were all paid for, and of course, there's a stipend! There will be some pictures sent to me by one of the other survivors that I'll pass along. There was one consumer from Canada as well as grant applications from Canada so you don't have to be an American to participate!