California’s educators are well-known for their rich and varied contributions in the classroom, but thousands are playing an important role in health research, too. A group of 133,500 female CalSTRS members -- active and retired -- are voluntarily participating in a large ongoing research study of breast cancer and other women’s health issues.

The California Teachers Study, organized by the state Department of Health Services, the Northern California Cancer Center, the University of California, Irvine, and the University of Southern California, began in fall 1995. Since then, participants have been filling out detailed questionnaires about their lifestyle, health, diet and other topics.

Early observations from the study showed a high rate of breast cancer, melanoma, endometrial and ovarian cancers experienced by California teachers.

Survey information, including newsletters and abstracts of medical journal articles are available at the California Teachers Study Web site.