Dr. Nicholas J. Vogelzang
Chairman

Ann Abbe
Secretary

Dr. J. Ulf Jungnelius
Treasurer

Dr. Jarl Ulf Jungnelius is the Vice President of Oncology, Solid Tumors at Celgene. Prior to this position he was responsible for late stage oncology programs at Pfizer Inc and Eli Lilly & Company. He brings to the Foundation his expertise as a medical and radiation oncologist, his experience in pharmaceutical drug development and cancer research, and his great contacts within the pharmaceutical industry as a whole. As an executive of one the key oncology discovery and clinical development companies in the world, he adds a key piece to the Foundation's effort to engage America's corporations in the mission to eradicate mesothelioma.

Celgene
Summit, NJ

Robert A. Cosentino
Director

After Mary Cosentino was diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma in January 2003, she and her husband Bob, side by side, became devoted Meso Foundation volunteers, financial supporters and political advocates.

In 2007, Mary joined the Foundation’s Board of Directors. Together, Mary and Bob brought to the Foundation and the entire meso community their first-hand knowledge and thorough understanding of the challenges that patients and their loved ones encounter when faced with mesothelioma. They also brought their positive, optimistic attitude that a cure for meso will be found, and meso patients and families truly can make a difference. As one example of this, Mary and Bob were the first financial supporters of the Foundation’s new grant program providing financial assistance to patients for meso expert consultation.

After a five-year battle with peritoneal mesothelioma, Mary succumbed to the disease on January 26, 2008. The Board of Directors and Staff of the Meso Foundation mourn the passing of our dear friend Mary Cosentino. Bob has agreed to join the Board of Directors and continue her work. Bob’s compassion, his personal understanding of the road meso patients and families walk, and his wisdom and experience from his years as an estate planning attorney will greatly benefit the community as we work toward a cure.

Western Springs, IL

Dr. David S. Ettinger
Director

David S. Ettinger, MD, is the Alex Grass Professor of Oncology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland.  He also holds four additional professorships – professor of medicine, professor of otolaryngology - head and neck surgery, professor of gynecology and obstetrics, and professor of radiation oncology and molecular radiation sciences.

Dr. Ettinger received his medical degree from the University of Louisville School of Medicine.  He completed his training in medical oncology at Johns Hopkins in 1975, and since then has been on the faculty of the School of Medicine.  He was chairman of the Thoracic Committee of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (1980 to1982) and since 1990, has been chairman of the Medical Oncology Lung Subcommittee of the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group. 

Dr. Ettinger is a member of the board of directors of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) as well as a member of the NCCN Guidelines Steering Committee. From 1982 through 1990, he was principal investigator of the phase I studies of new anticancer agents, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.  Dr. Ettinger’s research interests are in new drug development and innovative multidisciplinary cancer treatment strategies.  He is also interested in improving supportive care measures associated with cancer and its treatment.  Dr. Ettinger has authored or co-authored over 190 articles and serves as an editor for Current Treatment Options in Oncology. He has been very involved with the American Cancer Society Maryland Division, including serving as its president from 1994 to 1996.

Dr. Ettinger is a true pioneer in cancer clinical care as well as a driving force in many of the national and international organizations that direct the future of cancer research and clinical care issues.  He is a global figure and will be instrumental in forging alliances with many of the countries around the globe who are just beginning to see the surge in mesothelioma cases.  He has history behind him and the future in his sights.  He has a reputation for “getting things done” and bringing everyone to the table.  We expect that he will become a driving force in the mesothelioma community as well as help set the direction for the future of the organization

Alex Grass Professor of Oncology
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Baltimore, Maryland

Dr. Axel-Rainer Hanauske
Director

Axel-Rainer Hanauske, MD, PhD, MBA is a medical oncologist whose scientific work focuses on drug development, translational research, and treatment individualization. In 1996 when he was the deputy Chief of the Division of Hematology and Oncology at the Technical University in Munich, Dr. Hanauske and his group discovered the activity of Alimta/Cisplatin in mesothelioma as part of a Phase I study of the drug. He personally treated the first mesothelioma patient in the world with the combination of Alimta and Cisplatin, and the patient had a dramatic response. Dr. Hanauske and his group worked out the treatment regimen for Alimta/Cisplatin that is now currently used world wide. In 2000, Lilly invited him to continue to pursue development of his regimen by joining Lilly for the large Phase III clinical study (led by Meso Foundation Board of Directors Chairman Nicholas J. Vogelzang, MD), which led to the FDA’s approval of Alimta for treatment of mesothelioma, the first drug ever approved for the disease, which until then was considered hopelessly unresponsive to chemotherapy.

Dr. Hanauske is currently Global Brand Development Leader, Eli Lily & Co. in Indianapolis and Professor of Medicine at the Technical University in Munich. He has given dozens of presentations on mesothelioma and how to treat it, with an emphasis on the ongoing dangers of asbestos. Dr. Hanauske will utilize his extensive experience with mesothelioma drug development to help the Board of Directors guide the Foundation’s research program closer to a cure.

Global Brand Development Leader
Lilly Corporate Center
Indianapolis, IN

Latanyta Manuel
Director

Latanyta Manuel’s fight against meso began when Andrew Manuel, her husband of 23 years, was diagnosed. Andrew lost his battle to meso on January 23, 2004 but Latanyta continues honoring his memory by helping raise awareness about this devastating disease. In Detroit and urban communities throughout the nation, meso is underdiagnosed, and those patients who are diagnosed do not receive adequate information on their treatment options. Latanyta wants to change this. In addition to her newly added responsibilities as a member of the Meso Foundation’s Board of Directors, Latanyta juggles motherhood and extensive involvement with her local community organizations. Latanyta is also a dedicated supporter of education. She sits on the Board of Directors of the Detroit Urban Lutheran School and she teaches Sunday school at her church.

Canton, MI

Hanne Mintz
Director

Hanne Mintz is President of Paragon Language Services, Inc., a professional translation and interpreting agency providing services in over 90 languages, catering to all industries and disciplines. Hanne was born in Sweden and educated in Sweden, England and the United States.

The Mintz family was pulled into what to them was the previously unknown world of meso when Hanne’s 30 year-old son, Adam, was diagnosed with peritoneal mesothelioma. Adam was a chef, an outdoorsman, a skier and hiker, a prankster, and a kind and generous young man. No one really knows how Adam was exposed to asbestos; however, every school he attended was contaminated, and the house where the family lived for 32 years was found to have transite, a common building material made from asbestos and cement. Adam’s sister, Marina, helped care for Adam while the family watched his steady, painful decline, wasting away from a 190lb young man to a 125lb shadow, 2½ years after his diagnosis.

Hanne is passionate about finding treatment and a cure. She began her quest when Adam was first diagnosed, and spent days and nights on the internet looking for any glimmer of hope, calling researchers, begging for Adam to be included in any treatment, however experimental. She knows the answers are out there, she is determined to make a difference and has pledged all her energy to support the Meso Foundation in its quest to save lives.

Paragon Language Services, Inc.
Los Angeles, CA

Wendy Stoeckler
Director

Wendy’s life drastically changed on December 31, 2001 when her husband Chris, better known as Gopher, was diagnosed with pleural, peritoneal, pericardial and testicular mesothelioma.  Chris had a heart of gold, he was always positive, and he continued to be that way throughout the length of his illness.  He never said “No” to anyone in need of his help, no matter how he was feeling that day.  He would get right out there to help with his portable chemo bag and oxygen tank in tow to get the job done, be it at home in WI or out advocating against asbestos.  That was Chris, there was no stopping him.
Chris was a mechanic by trade, exposed unknowingly early in life through his family-owned service station and throughout his career.  As his wife and sole caregiver, Wendy watched as her husband of 21 years deteriorated before her and their only daughter Taylor.  Chris passed away December 21, 2006 at the age of 44.

Wendy made a vow to Chris that she would never give up the fight to find a cure for meso and to ban asbestos.  Chris, Wendy and Taylor began advocating with the Meso Foundation for meso patients early on in 2002 and have not stopped. Through her financial generosity, Wendy has helped move meso research one step closer to finding a cure. She funded the Christopher Stoeckler Memorial Grant, awarded to the University of Minnesota’s Dr. Robert Kratzke for his project, Targeting Cap-Mediated Translation for Mesothelioma Therapy.

Wendy is whole-heartily committed to her new role as a member of the Board of Directors. For her it is a powerful way to carry out her devotion to finding a cure, to help meso patients and families through her first-hand of this disease, and to keep her promise to Chris. 

Fort Atkinson, WI                                                                                                                                                 

In Memoriam

Rep. Bruce F. Vento Beginning in 1977, Congressman Vento served the people of Minnesota in the U.S. House of Representatives, as a strong advocate for the environment, working people and the disadvantaged. In January, 2000, he was diagnosed with malignant mesothelioma. He joined the Foundation's Board of Directors, and began to speak out on the need for greater mesothelioma research funding. Congressman Vento died on October 10, 2000. For more about Congressman Vento, and his personal fight as well as his public fight against mesothelioma, please follow the links on the right.

Minnesota Rep. Bruce Vento Dies. October 10, 2000 Congressman Bruce Vento's Cause of Death Clarified. October 13, 2000 PRESS RELEASE: Congressman Bruce Vento Joins Nonprofit Foundation Dedicated to Eradicating Mesothelioma. September 11, 2000 Please click here for Rep. Vento's biography. September 8, 2000 Please click here to read Rep. Vento's inspiring speech endorsing MARF. May 10, 2000 A Salute to Bruce Vento and Call to Arms: Mesothelioma Will Not Be Overcome by Will, Passion and Spirit Alone. June 29, 2000