ADAO 14th Annual International Asbestos Awareness and Prevention Conference
“Where Knowledge and Action Unite”
April 13 – 15, 2018
Renaissance Arlington Capital View Hotel
2018 Conference Info | Know Before You Go | Registration | Marriott Reservations | Events | Agenda | RSVP for Events | Newseum Tour and Causal Dinner | “Meet the Artists” Reception and Awards Dinner | Brunch | Honorees | Speakers | Speaker Information | Tributes | Sponsors | Media | 2017 Livestream Videos
2005 – 2017 Conference Infographic | 2005 – 2017 Conferences Honorees & Keynote Speakers
Posted on February 11, 2018
The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) is proud to present a weekly series “Meet the Speakers and Honorees,” which will highlight the esteemed participants of our highly anticipated 14th Annual International Asbestos Awareness & Prevention Conference! The ADAO conference, which will take place on April 13-15, 2018 in Washington, D.C., combines 30 expert opinions, victims’ stories, and new technological advancements from 9 countries across the globe into one united voice raising awareness about asbestos. ADAO is the only U.S. nonprofit that organizes annual conferences dedicated solely to preventing asbestos exposure and eliminating asbestos-caused diseases. Register here today! http://bit.ly/2018ADAOAAPC
Session II Speakers: Dr. Brad Black; Dr. Paul Demers; Dr. Raja Flores; Dr. Michael R. Harbut; John Panza; Dr. Jukka Takala; Marika Townsend
Session II Moderator: Dr. Christine Oliver
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Brad Black, MD has been the Medical Director and CEO for the Center for Asbestos and Related Disease (CARD Clinic) in Libby, Montana since 2000. He has been a physician in the Libby medical community since 1977 and became the Lincoln County Health Officer in 1984. Beginning in 1999, he worked closely with Dr. Alan Whitehouse, a Spokane, WA pulmonologist, for 9 years. Since 2000, Dr. Black has had the opportunity to care for thousands of patients and this longitudinal observation of progressive pleural fibrosis has led to a clear characterization of Libby amphibole asbestos disease. CARD continues to provide asbestos health screening and care to a population with significant Libby Amphibole exposure and related diseases. In 2008 he presented at the National Institute of Health/National Cancer Institute about the progressive pleural fibrosis and mesothelioma identified in those exposed to Libby amphibole asbestos. He was instrumental in initiating research on Libby amphibole asbestos health effects. His work has expanded into research leading to an association with pulmonologists and occupational medicine specialists from multiple academic centers around the U.S. In 2010, Dr. Black became an adjunct professor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. He has collaborated on a number of professional journal publications, and most recently he participated in a National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences working group that developed a publication on the non- neoplastic, pleural endpoints. Today, Dr. Black continues his dedicated efforts to providing excellent healthcare, outreach, advocacy and research for asbestos related diseases.
Paul Demers, PhD is the Director of the Occupational Cancer Research Centre as well as a Professor with the University of Toronto, and the Scientific Director of CAREX Canada. He has been a member of many national and international expert panels with organizations such as IARC (WHO), UN Environment Program, Canadian Cancer Society, Royal Society of Canada, Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, NIOSH, and the ACGIH. Paul is the lead investigator for a national team assessing the human and economic impact of workplace carcinogens in Canada. Estimates of the number of cancers caused by asbestos and their economic impact were used in the successful push to ban asbestos in Canada.
Dr. Raja Flores, MD is a recognized leader in the field of thoracic surgery for his pioneering efforts in the treatment of mesothelioma. Dr. Flores’ research interests include numerous past projects relating to the multimodality management of malignant pleural mesothelioma. He helped pioneer the use of intraoperative chemotherapy for mesothelioma, and led a multi-center trial designed to improve patient outcomes. He changed the surgical management of pleural mesothelioma cancer with a landmark study comparing extrapleural pneumonectomy and pleurectomy/decortication. An expert in his field, Dr. Flores has appeared on many national and local television news reports to discuss mesothelioma. With over 150 related publications to date, his energies and commitment to the plight of mesothelioma patients remains paramount.
Michael R. Harbut, MD, MPH, FCCP is Chief of the Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine: Clinical Assistant Professor, Wayne State University, School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan. An internationally known expert in the diagnosis and treatment of environmental and workplace diseases, Dr. Harbut has been named co-Director of the National Center for Vermiculite and Asbestos Related Cancers. He is the co-author of the American Thoracic Society’s 2004 Recommendations for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Non-Malignant Disease Caused by Asbestos Exposure. Dr. Harbut is a past chair of the occupational and environmental health section of the American College of Chest Physicians, and has served on the Board of Directors of the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation. Dr. Harbut brings his expertise to address the need for early diagnosis and aggressive treatment of asbestos related diseases
Celeste Monforton, DrPH, MPH is a professorial lecturer in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University. Her research includes assessment of worker health and safety laws and policies, and their effectiveness in protecting workers from illnesses, disability and death. She has published articles on strategies used by economic interests, including the asbestos industry, to manipulate scientific evidence to create uncertainty about health risks in order to delay protective regulatory action and compensation. Prior to her academic appointment, Dr. Monforton was a federal employee at the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA, 1991-1995) and Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA, 1996-2001). Dr. Monforton served on the special panels appointed by the West Virginia Governor to investigate the January 2006 Sago coal mine disaster that took the lives of 12 workers, and the April 2010 disaster at Massey Energy’s Upper Big Branch mine that killed 29 workers. Dr. Monforton is an active member of the American Public Health Association, and serves in a leadership position with the organization’s Occupational Health and Safety Section.
Christine Oliver, MD, MPH, MS is President of Occupational Health Initiatives, Inc. She is an adjunct professor in the Occupational and Environmental Health Division of the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto in Toronto, ON. Dr. Oliver is a member of the Ontario Task Force on Environmental Health and a consultant to Occupational Health Clinics for Ontario Workers (OHCOW). She was formerly an associate clinical professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a member of the Department of Medicine (Pulmonary and Critical Care Division) at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. Dr. Oliver’s primary specialty is occupational and environmental medicine, with an emphasis on occupational lung disease. Dr. Oliver is a Fellow of the Collegium Ramazzini and has done research and published in the area of occupational lung disease, with a focus on asbestos-related disease. She has lectured frequently on this topic, including more recently the determination of risk for asbestos-related lung cancer. Dr. Oliver has testified before Congress and OSHA on issues related to asbestos and other workplace exposures.
John Panza, hailing from Cleveland, was diagnosed in 2012 at 38 with malignant pleural mesothelioma. Working with Cleveland Clinic’s Taussig Cancer Center, he underwent chemotherapy, radiation, and the removal of his right lung, pericardium, and the right side of his diaphragm, a palliative approach to an always fatal cancer. His asbestos exposure was pedestrian, a result of his father’s work in a brake/clutch factory in the 1970s-80s. He is currently five years NED, continues to tour as a professional musician, and runs Panza Foundation, a non-profit that supplies underground bands with gear, recording time, and other services. When not playing music, John spends his time with Jane (his wife of 19 years), Eva (their daughter) and Bella, Mabel, Victoria, and Dolly (their cats).
Jukka Takala, DSc, MSc, BSc, prior to joining the Singapore WSH Institute as the first Executive Director in 2011, he was the Director of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU-OSHA) from 2006-2011. He was the coordinator of all EU regulatory agencies in 2010-11. He served the International Labour Organisation as the Director of the ILO’s Global SafeWork Programme until 2006, and earlier as an ILO Chief Technical Adviser in Africa and Asia, from 1978-1986. The ILO service period 1978-2006 included posts of the Head of the ILO’s Information Centre, and Chief of OSH Branch. He was in charge of all ILO processes related to safety and health at work and a member and chair of the ILO/WHO/UNEP/UNITAR/UNIDO/World Bank Programmes for Chemicals. Before joining the ILO in 1978 he worked at the OSH Administration in Finland.
Marika Townsend works as an Advisor for LASAG and was prominent in setting up this support group for asbestos related disease victims in London and the South East of the United Kingdom. Prior to this role, she worked full time as a Clinical Nurse Specialist in both palliative care and lung cancer. Educated to Masters level her knowledge and experience enables her to support patients and families, emotionally and practically throughout their cancer journey. Marika agreed to take up the role after her retirement as a Lung Cancer Clinical Nurse Specialist, as it seemed a natural progression where she is able to use much of her previous experience to support victims of asbestos related disease.
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Check back next week for the fifth installment of “Meet the Speakers and Honorees” featuring our 2018 conference Session III speakers.
In unity,
Linda
The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO), a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, does not make legal referrals.