The Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation » SUMMIT07/SIMPLY THE BEST II

SUMMIT07/SIMPLY THE BEST II

November 9, 2007 was a day and a night to remember. Michael Milken, chairman of Faster Cures, and the man Fortune Magazine said “changed medicine,” was the keynote speaker for the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation’s Summit for Survival. The world’s leading researchers, physicians, scientists and lung cancer survivors from all over the globe came together, under one roof, to collaborate and define comprehensive solutions to eradicate Lung Cancer, the number one cancer killer. By day, the creation of a viable and fundable strategic plan to accelerate treatments and develop a cure for lung cancer began. By night, the celebration of this first-time EVER strategy began with awards to Lung Cancer luminaries U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, Deborah Morosini, MD, sister of Dana Morosini Reeve, and more wonderful visionaries who promised the momentum will not end until Lung Cancer is eradicated.

The Summit for Survival coincided with the second annual “Simply the Best” dinner gala at the Fairmont Hotel on the evening of November, 9, 2007, emcee’d by Cheryl Jennings. The evening honored the work of Senators Dianne Feinstein and Chuck Hagel. With a special tribute to Dana Reeve and her family, Deborah Morosini, MD, accepted the Dr. Fred Marcus SIMPLY THE BEST Award for her outstanding work as a BJALC Foundation Board Member in the fight to end lung cancer.

Fortune Magazine lauded Michael Milken as a leading champion in medical advances. Milken—who also founded the Prostate Cancer Foundation, the world’s largest source of support for prostate cancer research—was the Summit keynote speaker followed by panelists of leading scientists, physicians and lung cancer researchers, government officials, survivors and patient advocates from points throughout the globe: Barcelona, Spain, Switzerland, France, Germany to New York City, California and around the world again. Co-chairs included Dr. Claudia Henschke, MD, PhD, Professor of Radiology in Cardiothoracic Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College; David M. Jablons, MD ,Co-Founder of the BJALC Foundation and Professor and Chief of Thoracic Surgery, Ada Distinguished Professor of Thoracic Oncology at UCSF, David Gandara, MD, Professor of Medicine at the University of California, Davis School of Medicine and Associate Director of Clinical Research, and the Director of Thoracic Oncology at the University of California, Davis Cancer Center, and Rafael Rosell, MD, PhD Chief Medical Oncology Service and Scientific Director of Oncology Research at the Institut Catala d’Onocologia, Hospital Germans Trias I Pujol, Barcelona, Spain.

The Summit considered answers to the question, “If money for research and development was not a barrier, and a true collaboration of academic medicine, entrepreneurial biotech and pharmaceutical companies could be achieved, what would be the immediate next steps needed to reach a cure in the least amount of time and how much would it cost?”

Panel discussions were facilitated by former CNN News Anchor Carol Lin and Wells Whitney, Chair of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Thoracic Cabinet and Chair of the BJALCF Scientific Advisory Board, in the areas of Early Detection, Imaging and Diagnostics, Biomarkers and Molecular Diagnostics, Basic Research, Cell Pathways, Targeted Therapies, Systems Biology, Clinical Trials, Targeted Diagnostics, Collaborations, Partnerships, Consortia and Funding. Panelists included Allan Balmain, PhD, FRSE, UCSF Cancer Center, Jill M.Siegfried, PhD, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pasi A. Jänne, MD, PhD, Matthew Meyerson, MD, PhD and Kwok-Kin Wong, MD, PhD, Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Monte M. Winslow, PhD, MIT Center for Cancer Research, Joan H. Schiller, MD, University of Texas Southwestern, Ravi Salgia, PhD, MD, University of Chicago, Mark G. Kris, MD, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, Steven M. Keller, MD, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Suzy Jones and Gwen Fyfe, Genentech, Gary Kelloff, MD, National Institutes of Health, James and Jeffrey Dao, Genyous Biomed, James L. Mulshine, Rush University Medical Center, Don Listwin and Chana Palmer, PhD, Canary Foundation, Stephen Lam, MD, FRCPC, University of British Columbia, Melissa Lim, MD, Redwood Pulmonary Medical Associates, David P. Carbone, MD, PhD, Vanderbilt Cancer Center, Fred S. Marcus, MD, Sequoia Hospital, Harvey Pass, MD, NYU School of Medicine and many more.

An executive committee is being formed comprised of representatives from biotech, pharma, basic sciences and clinical sciences to create this viable and fundable strategic business plan for Lung Cancer.

Upon successful completion of the plan, the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation will commit to assemble a group of funders to underwrite this plan as expeditiously as possible.