LAS VEGAS – With "All In for A Cure" as an appropriate theme for the venue, the Meso Foundation will hold its 10th annual symposium Thursday and Friday in Las Vegas, bringing together the country's leaders in clinical research, patient advocacy and novel therapeutics.
Mesothelioma survivors will be recognized. Questions from patients and families will be answered. And the latest clinical trials will be discussed.
The Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation (Meso Foundation) is the leading U.S. nonprofit organization dedicated to finding a cure and ending mesothelioma as a life-threatening disease.
The Meso Foundation helps fund mesothelioma research projects, lobbies politicians and assists patients with a variety of issues. The annual symposium is when it all comes together for the entire mesothelioma community.
There will be lectures, panel discussions and workshops throughout the two-day conference, serving as a way to spark new awareness with every passing year, and to inspire those looking for hope.
Much of the conference can be viewed on the Internet through live streaming beginning at 8 a.m. (PST) Thursday. The live stream is available for free through Curemeso.org.
Joseph Testa, Ph.D., chairman of the Mesothelioma Working Group at the Fox Chase Cancer Institute in Philadelphia, will moderate a discussion involving genetics, the role it plays in mesothelioma, and a role it could play in finding a cure.
Panelists will include Jill Ohar, M.D., professor at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine; Harvey Pass, M.D., director of thoracic surgery at the New York University Medical Center; and Michele Carbone, M.D., director of the University of Hawaii Cancer Center.
Another session will involve Novel Research Findings and New Therapeutic Opportunities. Lee Krug, M.D., director of the Mesothelioma Program at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, will moderate the panel discussion involving research grant recipients from 2011.
Mary Hesdorffer, executive director of the Meso Foundation, will moderate a multidisciplinary panel to discuss and promote the need for more interaction between researchers and clinicians to achieve better results for mesothelioma patients.
Upcoming mesothelioma drugs will be discussed by leaders in the pharmaceutical industry. Attorneys will discuss legal issues involving mesothelioma patients. And the Meso Foundation's fundraising coordinators will be there to help advocates organize new events.
The event will conclude Friday night with a recognition dinner that will honor those who have worked for the mesothelioma cause. It will include several congressmen and congresswomen and those who were awarded research grants for 2013. The prestigious Pioneer Award will be going to Dr. Testa for the work he has done involving genetics and mesothelioma.
