BOSTON — When it comes to large, federally funded research projects, how can lay organizations – with their myriad of interests that may create conflict with the researchers who are directing the projects – peacefully coexist with the scientists?  

Because there are so many competing perspectives and stakeholders, that often can be a tough call, said Sabrina McCormick, an assistant professor of sociology at Michigan State University, who has been studying lay participation in a federal environmental breast cancer research project. 

McCormick and several other researchers addressed the issue at a special symposium – “A Crack in the Lab Door: The State of ‘Upstream Engagement’ in Science” – today at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting. 

“There is controversy in the scientific community over this issue,” said McCormick, who also is affiliated with MSU’s Environmental Science and Policy Program. “It’s a question of whether advocates or nonexperts should have a say in forming research agenda.” 

The problem, she said, is that everybody has a stake in the work. 

“Studies of environmental causes of breast cancer are very contentious because they can have massive political ramifications,” she said. “If it’s found, for example, that a particular group of chemicals is definitively linked to breast cancer, then regulatory models and corporate practices will have to change.” 

It was in 2003 that four Breast Cancer and Environmental Research Centers were established in the United States. One of the centers is located at MSU. 

“The ongoing debate we’re seeing now is whether we should be switching our attention from cure and treatment to prevention and causation,” McCormick said. 

And the debate continues. Is lay participation in these centers helping advance this important research? 

“On the surface, things seem to be going well,” she said. “But I think what is also happening is some of the fundamental aspects of community-based, participatory research are not being addressed.”

For more information, go to http://special.newsroom.msu.edu/aaas/index.php.