Posts Tagged ‘Lexi Miletto’

Girl honors grandpa at Mesothelioma symposium

30 Jun 2008 by Wendi Lewis under Events, Organizations, People

As part of the International Symposium on Malignant Mesothelioma, held last week in , D.C., 13-year-old Lexi Miletto presented a keynote address to more than 200 top-level cancer researchers, scientists and physicians, as well as mesothelioma survivors, caregivers and their families. The Symposium is an annual event presented by the Mesothelioma Applied Foundation (Meso Foundation). Lexi’s grandfather, Joe Miletto, died from mesothelioma three years ago.

When her grandfather passed away, 9-year-old Lexi, who lives just outside Allentown, Pennsylvania, channeled her grief into a letter-writing campaign, hoping to raise awareness of mesothelioma. According to an article in The Morning Call, a publication that serves Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley, Lexi wrote medical organizations, political leaders including President George Bush, and even television celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, hoping to spread the word about asbestos danger and mesothelioma.

This year, the Meso Foundation invited Lexi to give the keynote address Friday, June 27, at its International Symposium. The Morning Call quotes Chris Hahn, the foundation’s executive director, as saying, ”We wanted to show the full spectrum of the disease’s effect on families. How inspiring it is that this young gal going into eighth grade has this concern for a much bigger national problem.”

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

MARF announces Mesothelioma Symposium

29 May 2008 by Wendi Lewis under Events, Organizations

The Mesothelioma Applied Foundation () will hold its International Symposium on Malignant Mesothelioma 2008 in , D.C., June 26-28. The annual event highlights the latest advances in and treatment for patients and caregivers, offers psychosocial support to them as well as those who have lost someone to the disease, and provides significant advocacy and volunteer opportunities for those who are intent on eradicating mesothelioma.

According to Rob Grayson, director of marketing for the Meso Foundation, the event actually started as a purely scientific event, geared toward researchers and scientists, with technical presentations. However, at the time, there were no informational or educational events like it, and they found that patients, families and caregivers wanted to attend.

“Initially, these people would come and sit in on these high-level presentations by scientists, with very technical presentations. We saw the interest and our meeting has now evolved into more of a patient meeting, the scientists speak in more layman’s terms, and we’ve added programs to reach out to people who are also interested in the community of support and the activism that takes place,” Grayson said.

The advocacy element is a new piece of the symposium, added last year when the meeting coincided with debate in the Senate on the Ban Asbestos in America Act, S. 742, sponsored by Senator (D-WA).

“The day we lobbied, they took an administrative vote, and it passed in the Senate. So we’re going back to this year,” Grayson said.

Advocacy efforts this year will include a rallying cry to the House of Representatives to move quickly to pass the legislation in the House, which bans asbestos and provides funding for mesothelioma. Last week, the Foundation issued an action alert in support of The Bruce Vento Ban and Prevent Act of 2007 (H.R. 3339), the companion to the Senate bill. The bill includes $10 million for mesothelioma .

“Normally we’d hold the Symposium in a different city each year, but it’s almost the same timing as last year, with the bill pending, this time in the House, so we’re back to ,” Grayson explained.

Those attending the Symposium can register to participate in the advocacy efforts, and the Meso Foundation will arrange for them to meet personally with their congressional delegate, and will provide a training session to help advocates prepare for the meeting.

In addition to lobbying for passage of the House bill, Symposium advocates will request that the Senate’s Defense Appropriations Subcommittee maintain, for the second year, mesothelioma’s eligibility to compete for medical funding from the Department of Defense. In 2007, the DoD appropriated $50 million and included mesothelioma as a priority for its Peer Reviewed Medical Program, effective in the 2008 budget. The Meso Foundation is working for continuing and increasing funds for in the 2009 defense appropriations bill.

“There currently is no ban on asbestos, so companies can use it however they see fit. We’ve pretty much stopped mining here, but asbestos is still used in about 3,000 products that you could go out and buy right now. Even if we banned asbestos tomorrow, it probably won’t change the rate of sickness for the next 50 years, due to the latency period of asbestos. That’s why the funding for is so important,” Grayson says. “Advocacy and the call for a ban on asbestos raises awareness, and raises money for , which is what we need to deal with the illness itself,” he said.

In addition to advocacy, the Symposium again will feature an educational program, with sessions covering topics including Peritoneal Mesothelioma, Pleural Meso Surgical Options, Emerging Therapies, Optimizing Patient Care, and Scientific Advances in Meso . Other educational programs will provide instruction on outreach topics including volunteerism, fundraising, peer support and advocacy, to help those who want to make a difference learn how to be most effective.

A Gala Dinner will honor those people living with meso, and recognize outstanding volunteers and advocates for their hard work and dedication to raising awareness. The dinner will feature a unique guest speaker – Seventh grader Lexi Miletto, the granddaughter of Joseph Miletto, who died in 2005 of peritoneal mesothelioma.

Scholarships for Symposium registration fees, as well as for transportation and accommodations, are still available for patients, family members and caregivers who would like to attend. Contact the Meso Foundation at www.curemeso.org or call 805-563-8400 for details.

The Mesothelioma Foundation was started in 1999, by attorney Roger Worthington. Unfortunately, Grayson says, there was an initial stigma because of his association, with people suspicious the Foundation was attempting to gather clients for his firm, so he removed himself from the Board of Directors and the Foundation was re-established as a non-profit, 501(c)3 organization. Today, with 8 staff members, the organization raises $2.5 million annually and funds more than $1 million in projects.

“Currently, most of our funding goes to seed money to help researchers who have good ideas for treatment to validate their work, and take it to the NIH to get additional funding for the next step of the ,” Grayson explained. “We hope very soon that we’ll be able to fund clinical trials.”

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,