by Mary Hesdorffer, Nurse Practitioner
Executive Director, Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation
I received an invitation to attend the first ever community lung cancer day at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Though the focus was on lung cancer, I was given the opportunity to have a table where I could promote the work of the Foundation as well as mingle with the community. I did not meet any mesothelioma patients, but I did speak with two individuals who lost parents to mesothelioma, and they thanked me for our work.
I was also able to meet the lung team, one of whom trained with Dr. David Sugarbaker (small world indeed). The thoracic nurse navigators were very interested in our work and agreed to provide their patients with our brochures, as did the respiratory therapists. We have awarded a number of grants to the researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center, and Dr. Joe Testa, a past recipient, was given our pioneer award last year.
This event followed a very successful one day mesothelioma conference at UPenn. Melissa Culligan took on the main responsibility of organizing the conference and did a superb job. Don’t be fooled by the sweet and quiet disposition of Melissa, as underneath is a stern taskmaster keeping the docs on their toes. She is the heart of the UPenn program. Dr. Joe Friedberg assigned the topics for our presentations and kept the momentum going with his usual god humored quips. I was given the presentation title “the unmet needs of the mesothelioma patient.” As promised, I brought your voices to the presentation, and attendees were moved by your stories and our pleas for new drug therapies, better opportunities to participate in clinical trials, as well as more supportive care services.
Dr. Lee Krug, who will be accepting the role of BOD chair in January also presented, and I was so pleased knowing that this well-respected medical oncologist will be leading us to fulfill our mission. Dr. Raffit Hassan, former SAB chair caused quite a stir with his report on the progress he is making with his trial of SS1P. I received some exciting news from Dr. Steve Albelda, a member of our SAB; He will be taking a sabbatical in Hawaii for 3 months to collaborate with Dr. Michele Carbone. It is very nice to see these relationships building and the sharing of resources and data.
As is usual at UPenn, their energy and enthusiasm for treating mesothelioma is heartwarming, and I left knowing that they will continue to build and expand upon the terrific services that they already offer to mesothelioma patients. Dr. Friedberg trained a young surgeon from Taiwan, and he flew in to be part of the conference as did Dr. Paul Bass from the Netherlands. I was proud to be among those who presented, and I will be updating you on the science sessions at both this conference and the conference in Sydney. It is obvious to me that we are seeing the fruits of our labors with more trials having a targeted approach based upon much of the science that we have funded.
