On April 8 at 9 PM Eastern time, the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation (Meso Foundation) will hold a new installment of its ‘Meet the Experts’ series, featuring Dr. Joanna C. Horobin, the Chief Medical Officer at Verastem, Inc., who will discuss the company’s latest investigational agent, defactinib, which is being developed for use in patients with pleural mesothelioma. Those interested in attending via telephone can RSVP by visiting https://www.curemeso.org/experts.
Dr. Horobin will be interviewed by Mary Hesdorffer, Meso Foundation’s executive director and experienced nurse practitioner. The goal of this “Meet the Experts” installment is to learn more about this novel agent, the purpose of which is to delay the time to progression after having a response or stabilization with first-line therapy. Currently, defactinib is available only through its clinical trial.
Dr. Horobin, M.B., Ch.B. has been the Chief Medical Officer at Verastem, Inc. since October 2012.
The Meet the Experts series is a live podcast created by the Meso Foundation with the goal of providing patients, their family members, and other interested parties with the most up-to-date information on mesothelioma treatment and research, directly from the physicians pioneering these advances. Past teleconferences have featured:
Dr. Lee Krug – Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Dr. Dan Sterman – University of Pennsylvania
Dr. Raffit Hassan – National Cancer Institute
Dr. Julie Brahmer – Johns Hopkins
Dr. Tobias Peikert – Mayo Clinic
Dr. Joseph Friedberg – University of Pennsylvania
Dr. Valerie Rusch – Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Melissa Culligan, RN – University of Pennsylvania
The topics, which have included immunotherapy, gene therapy, drugs, experimental mesothelioma treatments, and biomarkers, are usually discussed through an informal interview, focusing on questions important to patients, in particular. Listeners are encouraged to ask questions while listening to the call.