University of California, San Francisco - Bay Area (BABCERC)
Center Director:	Robert A. Hiatt, MD, PhD rhiatt@cc.ucsf.edu
Administrator:	Kaya Balke kaya@cc.ucsf.edu
Web Site:	bayarea.bcerc.org

The Bay Area Breast Cancer and the Environment Research Center is addressing concerns about environmental impact on mammary gland development during critical windows of exposure. Researchers at UCSF and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory are using novel approaches to studying the impact of environmental exposures on the interactions between epithelial cells and stromal cells. Normal and cancer-prone mice are examined during varied stages of development to determine the effects of exposure to multiple stressors and will attempt to develop more sensitive screens for carcinogenicity. In concert with these investigations, an epidemiological study based at Kaiser Permanente's Division of Research is following a multiethnic co­hort of 444 6- to 7-year old girls prospectively for five years through the pubertal transition. The Community Outreach and Translation Core has involved organizations in San Francisco, Marin, and Alameda County and provides interactions with the engaged community and provides a means for feedback of concerns to the investigators.

Collaborators:

• California Dept. of Public Health
• Kaiser Permanente of Northern California
• Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
• Marin County Dept. of Health & Human Services
• Roswell Park Cancer Center
• University of Michigan
• Zero Breast Cancer

Community Partners:

• Alameda County Dept. of Public Health
• Bay Area Breast Cancer SPORE Advocacy Group
• Bayview Hunters Point Health & Environmental Assessment Task Force
• Breast Cancer Fund