National Mesothelioma Awareness Day – Almost

We need 2 more signatures for H Res 771 to pass and be placed on ‘the books’ as NATIONAL Mesothelioma Awareness Day .

The following  people are the Legislators that have signed, everyone listed in blue signed on while we were on the Hill or shortly thereafter. Your hard work is paying  off! Keep at it. – If you don’t see your state representatives listed below, please ask your congress men & women to sign on too!

H.RES.771
Title: Supporting the goals and ideals of a National Mesothelioma Awareness Day.
Sponsor: Rep McCollum, Betty [MN-4] (introduced 9/24/2009) Cosponsors (45)
Related Bills: S.RES.288
Latest Major Action: 9/24/2009 Referred to House committee. Status: Referred to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
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COSPONSORS(45), ALPHABETICAL [followed by Cosponsors withdrawn]: (Sort: by date)
Rep Abercrombie, Neil [HI-1] – 1/21/2010 Rep Akin, W. Todd [MO-2] – 6/10/2010
Rep Altmire, Jason [PA-4] – 11/17/2009 Rep Austria, Steve [OH-7] – 6/15/2010
Rep Baca, Joe [CA-43] – 9/29/2009 Rep Baldwin, Tammy [WI-2] – 6/10/2010
Rep Bartlett, Roscoe G. [MD-6] – 6/10/2010 Rep Bishop, Sanford D., Jr. [GA-2] – 11/2/2009
Rep Bordallo, Madeleine Z. [GU] – 9/24/2009 Rep Calvert, Ken [CA-44] – 6/10/2010
Rep Capps, Lois [CA-23] – 9/24/2009 Rep Castle, Michael N. [DE] – 11/2/2009
Rep Cohen, Steve [TN-9] – 9/24/2009 Rep Delahunt, Bill [MA-10] – 11/2/2009
Rep Donnelly, Joe [IN-2] – 6/16/2010 Rep Driehaus, Steve [OH-1] – 2/4/2010
Rep Ellison, Keith [MN-5] – 9/24/2009 Rep Frank, Barney [MA-4] – 6/9/2010
Rep Green, Gene [TX-29] – 9/24/2009 Rep Grijalva, Raul M. [AZ-7] – 9/24/2009
Rep Honda, Michael M. [CA-15] – 6/15/2010 Rep Kilroy, Mary Jo [OH-15] – 6/16/2010
Rep Lance, Leonard [NJ-7] – 9/24/2009 Rep Lipinski, Daniel [IL-3] – 10/8/2009
Rep Lowey, Nita M. [NY-18] – 9/29/2009 Rep Maloney, Carolyn B. [NY-14] – 6/17/2010
Rep Markey, Edward J. [MA-7] – 10/28/2009 Rep Moore, Dennis [KS-3] – 6/22/2010
Rep Nadler, Jerrold [NY-8] – 12/2/2009 Rep Norton, Eleanor Holmes [DC] – 6/17/2010
Rep Oberstar, James L. [MN-8] – 9/24/2009 Rep Obey, David R. [WI-7] – 9/25/2009
Rep Paulsen, Erik [MN-3] – 6/22/2010 Rep Platts, Todd Russell [PA-19] – 6/10/2010
Rep Rogers, Mike D. [AL-3] – 6/10/2010 Rep Rothman, Steven R. [NJ-9] – 2/4/2010
Rep Rush, Bobby L. [IL-1] – 6/10/2010 Rep Sanchez, Loretta [CA-47] – 6/17/2010
Rep Schock, Aaron [IL-18] – 6/23/2010 Rep Schwartz, Allyson Y. [PA-13] – 6/10/2010
Rep Shea-Porter, Carol [NH-1] – 10/13/2009 Rep Shuler, Heath [NC-11] – 6/15/2010
Rep Slaughter, Louise McIntosh [NY-28] – 9/29/2009 Rep Stupak, Bart [MI-1] – 1/12/2010

Mesothelioma Members with a Mission

On Thursday June 10th dozens of people from this year’s symposium headed to our Nation’s Capital in order to draw support to a very important cause … raising money and awareness for cancer research for mesothelioma.

I think it’s safe to say we all learned something that day. Between the politics and verbalizing our stories, everyone of us left the Hill with a new badge of honor working toward this common goal.

I was able to meet briefly with Congressman Ron Klein (D-FL). After months of letters and emails back and forth it seems as though he may be willing to help our cause.

2010 Symposium Kicks Off in DC

Washington DC – The 2010 Symposium on Malignant Mesothelioma kicked off at the Omni Hotel in Washington, DC without a hitch. Dozens of supporters were on hand to jump start the event in the nation’s capital. Among them, the new interim Executive Director of MARF [Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation], Kathy Wiedemer.

A few doctors and lawyers were on hand to meet, greet and welcome the various people who arrived a day before the trip to Capital Hill. Others in attendance, supporters and survivors of Mesothelioma patients and research.

Florida Family To Be Honored

Meso Foundation to Recognize Three Volunteer-Families at the Annual Symposium

The Meso Foundation honors three families who, through individual gifts and fundraising, funded $300,000 of critically-needed mesothelioma research in 2009.

On June 11, 2010 as part of this year’s International Symposium on Malignant Mesothelioma, the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation (Meso Foundation) will honor three families for their tireless work in promoting advances in mesothelioma research. The Bendix family, the Ruble family and the Sterling family have endured tremendous personal losses at the hand of mesothelioma. Despite knowing that their loved ones could not personally benefit from the results of their work, they banded together with friends and communities, to ensure hope for future generations, by funding three critical research projects through the Meso Foundation’s Research Program.

In Florida, Erica and Michael Ruble, children of the late Lance S. Ruble, were inspired to dedicate a grant to their father while attending the Meso Foundation’s Symposium in June 2009. They successfully organized numerous events and launched several fundraising letter campaigns. Their impressive $100,000 in contributions funded the Lance S. Ruble Memorial Grant. This grant was awarded to Dr. Prasad Adusumilli of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, whose work aims to train the body’s own immune cells to selectively kill mesothelioma cells, without the side-effects currently associated with traditional mesothelioma treatments.

“Our family chose this research project because my dad had such a hard time with the traditional approaches to mesothelioma,” says Erica Ruble. “We hope that this approach will enhance a patient’s immune system and enable people to live longer without suffering serious side effects.”