In the early months of 1983, research institutions in California cooperated in an effort to defeat statewide legislation designed to ban the use of California pound animals in biomedical research. As a result, a number of these institutions recognized that a political movement against all uses of animals in research was rapidly developing. Believing that an erosion of support for biomedical research would be detrimental to the public and to human and animal health, harmful to the research enterprise, and recognizing that it would be difficult and duplicative for institutions to respond to these challenges individually and piece-meal, a core group, including research universities, voluntary health organizations, and professional research associations, began discussing a unified approach.
From these discussions, a group of fifteen institutions joined together to establish an independent, non-profit organization, the California Biomedical Research Association, whose purpose was to develop a program of public education explaining how and why animals are used in biomedical research, and to advocate on behalf of biomedical research at the state and federal levels. These founding institutions, recognizing the need for an adequate budget in order for the organization to prove successful, undertook a membership dues structure that divided among them the necessary revenue to cover the most basic infrastructure of the Association. New members added revenue for the development of additional programs and initiatives.
Over the years, the mission of CBRA grew to include associated issues, as did the membership. While continuing to advocate for biomedical research, the Association also began to work closely with individual member facilities in media training and crisis preparation and readiness. In addition, the Association took on more work in public education, developing programs for media, schools, libraries, and community groups. Programs of professional development were added to assist member organizations with issues of security, compliance, continuing education, and awareness of the activities of the animal rights movement.
As CBRA's work in advocacy grew, the Board of Directors recognized a potential conflict with California State and the U.S. IRS guidelines in regard to non-profit organizations and lobbying. In 1993, the Board of Directors designated the California Biomedical Research Association as a 501 (c ) 4 organization (thereby allowing for an increase in lobbying and advocacy), and renamed the 501 (c ) 3, the California Society for Biomedical Research. With this move, CBRA became the advocacy and membership organization, and CSBR became the educational outreach organization with an enhanced mission for public education and work in California schools and a goal of promoting understanding and support of biomedical research and increasing science literacy. CSBR does this through a number of educational workshops and programs, teacher trainings, and the distribution of science teaching materials and aids that provide information about biomedical research and support the responsible use of animals in research to countless schools throughout the state.
CBRA is governed by its member organizations, the Governing Board, with each member facility or organization appointing one designated voting representative. A Board of Directors is chosen by the Governing Board and meets quarterly. The Board of Directors for CSBR is comprised of interested individuals from the community, representatives from our constituencies, and representative members from the CBRA Board of Directors.
The meetings of the Boards of Directors of the Society and the Association are held concurrently each quarter. CBRA's Annual Meeting of the larger Governing Board, held alternately in northern and southern California, is held jointly with the CSBR Annual Dinner and Silent Auction, the primary fund-raiser for CSBR.
Click here to view a timeline of CBRA and CSBR's accomplishments!
