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Vol. 14 Issue 1, Winter 2009
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
As you are all aware, a fiscal crisis has hit our nation and New York State (NYS) especially hard. It has also hit our Program on Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factors (BCERF) here at Cornell University.
The 2009-10 Executive Budget for NYS released by Governor Paterson in mid-December 2008 did not include funding to continue the support of the BCERF program. At that time we were informed by our Office of Government Affairs in Albany that the likelihood of our funding being restored to the NYS budget under current fiscal conditions was near zero. Our state funding had been supporting our research and education programs on the breast cancer risk of environmental chemicals in the home and workplace.
Our college and department are also severely fiscally challenged, and there are no funds available to provide us bridge funds to allow us time to pursue securing funds from other granting sources.
With this scenario, Dean Michael Kotlikoff in consultation with our department chair and director, Dr. Rodney Page, advised us that the portion of our program that had been funded through the NYS budget through a contract with the NYS Department of Health, must face closure.
What does this mean? It means that while we have been working hard to finish education and research projects currently funded under our state contract, after March 31, 2009 we will not have funding to support the continuation of these programs. It also means not having funding to continue many of our staff, including senior staff (both myself and Carmi Orenstein, our Assistant Director), other staff, and a number of part-time collaborators being supported with through our NYS funding.
While several state legislators in the NYS Assembly and Senate have recently advocated for the restoration of our funding, as of March 20, 2009, we do not know if funding has a chance of being restored. Hence, we must continue with planned closure procedures.
After April 1, 2009 we will no longer have funding to support the following activities:
Regional Cancer and Environment Forums
Talks, presentations and workshops on environmental chemicals
Quarterly newsletter, The Ribbon
Critical evaluations on cancer risks of chemicals
Our website at http://envirocancer.cornell.edu
On-line cancer risk databases (e.g. the Turf Pesticide and Cancer Risk Database)
Fact sheets on environmental chemicals
Videos on environmental estrogens in everyday products
BCERF Briefs on endocrine disrupting chemicals
BCERF Alerts on chemical exposures and cancer risks in the workplace
Outreach with workplace audiences, including teachers and women firefighters
Much of our risk communication research and outreach with pesticide applicators
Please note, that the work in the BCERF program on obesity prevention and breast cancer risk reduction, “Small Steps are Easier Together,” will continue. That work is funded by a grant from the US Department of Agriculture, and will be continued by our colleagues Dr. Carol Devine, Dr. Barbour Warren, and Ms. Mary Maley.
Our state funding for our contract entitled “Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factors in New York State” is unique. It allowed us to pursue many unique projects, to respond to requests for information on cancer risks of chemicals from many corners of our state, and develop innovative educational programming, and pursue translational research on cutting-edge issues to address the breast cancer risk of chemicals in the home and workplace.
I have been truly blessed to work with so many gifted staff, and with so many people in our state and beyond, on crucial issues concerning the cancer risks of environmental chemicals. We value the partnerships we have built with breast cancer and environmental organizations. You have been our source of inspiration, support, and our colleagues.
With sincere thanks for the opportunity to be a part of a wonderful program that made “sense out of the science” on the breast cancer risk of environmental chemicals, I am
Very sincerely yours,
Suzanne Snedeker, Ph.D.
Associate Director
Principal Investigator for the NY State contract
on Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factors in New York State
Program on Breast Cancer and Environmental Risk Factors
Cornell University, College of Veterinary Medicine
Vet Box 31, Ithaca, NY 14853-6401
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