Press Release: ADAO Announces Esteemed Speakers for 2014 Conference - to Coincide with 10th Year Anniversary - ADAO

For Immediate Release: January 28, 2014

ADAO Announces Esteemed Speakers for 2014 Conference – to Coincide with 10^th Year Anniversary

ADAO Welcomes More than 30 Speakers from Across the Globe; Celebrates a Decade of Asbestos Awareness Success

Los Angeles — January 28, 2014 — The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), which combines education, advocacy, and community to help ensure justice for asbestos victims, today announced the list of 30+ esteemed speakers scheduled to present at the upcoming 10^th Annual Asbestos Awareness Conference April 4-6 in Washington, DC. ADAO also celebrates its 10-year anniversary this year, marking a decade of asbestos awareness success since the organization’s inception in 2004.

ADAO began as a grassroots advocacy effort with the mesothelioma diagnosis of the beloved husband of the organization’s Co-Founder and President, Linda Reinstein. Since its inception in 2004, the Larkin and Reinstein families have worked with a tireless, dedicated group of volunteers to become the leading “voice of the victims” in the United States.

“I look at where ADAO has come since I began this journey as the confused and angry wife of an innocent asbestos victim and it has made me realize even more how we are all connected by a strong thread of hope that weaves itself across continents and lives,” stated Ms. Reinstein. “Since my husband Alan was diagnosed, more than 100,000 Americans have died from preventable asbestos-caused diseases and imports continue. As we celebrate the 10^th year anniversary of ADAO and welcome our global supporters and speakers to this year’s conference, I’m reminded more than ever that there is strength in numbers. Although Alan is no longer with us, his memory lives on, along with the memory of so many more whose lives have been lost to asbestos-related disease. ADAO will continue to ensure each life lost was not in vain, as we continue to create a firestorm of action to finally ban asbestos and end its tragedy.”

The 10^th Annual Asbestos Awareness Conference, themed “Where Knowledge and Action Unite,” will feature more than 30 expert speakers from ten countries who will present on the latest advancements in asbestos disease prevention, treatment for mesothelioma and other asbestos-caused diseases, and global ban asbestos advocacy.

The recently finalized list includes a highly esteemed group of research, advocacy, and medical experts:

Syed Ahmed
Marilyn Amento
Brad Black, MD
Michael Bradley, Mesothelioma Patient
Jill Cagle
Barbara Catlin, M.Ac
Barry Castleman, ScD
Francois Desriaux, Association Nationale de Défense des Victimes de l’Amiante (ANDEVA)
David Egilman, MD
Arthur Frank, MD, PhD
Ellen Costa
Fernanda Giannasi, Associação Brasileira dos Expostos ao Amianto (ABREA)
Michael Harbut, MD, MPH, FCCP
Marc Hindry, Association Nationale de Défense des Victimes de l’Amiante (ANDEVA)
Sinem Kankotan
Richard Lemen, PhD, MSPH
Steven Markowitz, MD
Barbi McQueen
Jim Melius, MD
Captain Aubrey K. Miller, M.D., M.P.H.,
Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH
Christine Oliver, MD, MPH, MS, FACPM
Ellen Patton, Mesothelioma Patient
Pierre Pluta, Association Nationale de Défense des Victimes de l’Amiante (ANDEVA)
Bill Ravanesi, MPH
Patrice Raveneau, Association Nationale de Défense des Victimes de l’Amiante (ANDEVA)
Linda Reinstein, ADAO Cofounder
Barry Robson, Asbestos Diseases Foundation of Australia (ADFA)
Joachim Rosler, MD
Ann Samuelson
Ken Takahashi, MD, PhD
Lisa Rahe Thompson
Susan Vento
Heather Von St James, Mesothelioma Patient
Yvonne Waterman,
Congressman Henry Waxman * by Video
James Webber, PhD
Heather White, Environmental Working Group
Lou Williams, Mesothelioma Patient
Jordan Zevon, ADAO National Spokesperson & Musician

Collaborating with organizations around the world for a global asbestos ban, ADAO has become a leader in social media advocacy and community outreach for asbestos victims, their families, and loved ones to share support, resources, and provide hope. ADAO has shifted education and awareness activities into high gear – with an unparalleled effort to educate the public and medical community about asbestos-related diseases and preventing exposure. Responsible for two Surgeon General asbestos warnings and ten Senate Resolutions designating April as Asbestos Awareness Week each year, ADAO is recognized as one of the largest organizations fighting for justice on behalf of asbestos victims in the US and abroad. The organization has presented to audiences throughout the U.S., Japan, Turkey, Mexico, Thailand, Holland, France, China, Italy, India, Brazil, Canada, Australia, and England.

Despite its known dangers, there is still no global ban on asbestos, and it continues to claim lives. Exposure to asbestos, a human carcinogen, can cause mesothelioma, lung, gastrointestinal, laryngeal, and ovarian cancers; as well as non-malignant lung and pleural disorders. The World Health Organization estimates that 107,000 workers around the world will die every year of an asbestos-related disease, equaling 300 deaths per day.

ADAO will hold its Tenth Annual International Asbestos Awareness Conference on April 4 – 6, 2014, at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, VA.

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About the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization

The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) was founded by asbestos victims and their families in 2004. ADAO is the largest non-profit in the U.S. dedicated to providing asbestos victims and concerned citizens with a united voice through our education, advocacy, and community initiatives. ADAO seeks to raise public awareness about the dangers of asbestos exposure, advocate for an asbestos ban, and protect asbestos victims’ civil rights. For more information, visit www.asbestosdiseaseawareness.org.

Media Contact:
Kim Cecchini
Media Relations
Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO)
(202) 391-5205
Kim@asbestosdiseaseawareness.org

Press Release: ADAO Announces Esteemed Speakers for 2014 Conference – to Coincide with 10th Year Anniversary