Today, the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation (Foundation) announced its 2023 award recipients. The awards will be presented during the organization’s International Symposium on Malignant Mesothelioma on October 20, 2023 at 6:45 PM at the Omni Shoreham Hotel in Washington, DC. The presentation will be available live via livestream (registration for the livestream is free).
Every year, the Foundation recognizes members of its community who help us advance our mission in their respective areas.
The recipient of the 2023 Pioneer Award is Dr. Dean Fennell.
The Pioneer Award honors individuals who are pioneering scientific advances in mesothelioma research, treatment, care, support, education, and advocacy. We are extremely grateful for your extensive contributions toward advancing mesothelioma science, as well as patient care. Dean Fennell, MD, PhD, is the chair of Thoracic Medical Oncology at the University Hospitals of Leicester and director of the Leicester Mesothelioma Research Institute. As a translational clinical scientist, he is responsible for leading several major trials in mesothelioma including MIST, VIM, and CONFIRM all in relapsed mesothelioma. He has authored over 100 publications in journals such as Nature, New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, Lancet Oncology, and many more.
The recipient of the 2023 Klaus Brauch Above and Beyond Award is Claudine Benmar.
The Klaus Brauch Above and Beyond Award (named after the Foundation’s very first volunteer) honors an engaged and exemplary individual who has worked to advance the Foundation’s mission by sharing their time and talent as a volunteer. Claudine Benmar lost her husband to mesothelioma in 2019. After settling in with her own grief, she began a support group for younger widows and widowers that she still hosts today. Claudine was also one of the first members of the organization’s newly established Community Advisory Board on which she continues to be active.
The recipient of the 2023 Bruce Vento Hope-Builder Award is Jessica Blackford-Cleeton.
The Bruce Vento Hope-Builder Award was named after the beloved Minnesota congressman who lost his life to mesothelioma in 2000. The award honors an individual who, through advocacy, works to achieve our mission of eradicating mesothelioma. Jessica Blackford-Cleeton found the Meso Foundation after her mesothelioma diagnosis. Over the years, between treatments and family obligations made more extensive by virtue of raising two very young children, she has served as a “consumer” reviewer for the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs, was a member of the inaugural Community Advisory Board, and subsequently became a member of the Board of Directors of the Foundation. Jessica has spent years advocating on behalf of the mesothelioma community for more research funding and support, and as a member of the board, she now uses that experience to help coordinate all of the organization’s advocacy efforts.
The recipient of the inaugural 2023 Changemaker Award is Bonnie Anderson (posthumously).
This year, the mesothelioma community lost Bonnie Anderson, a 21-year survivor, a relentless advocate, a staunch supporter, and a most generous friend to the Foundation and to so many of its members. Bonnie and her husband John were familiar faces at this Symposium, among this community, and on Capitol Hill among their New Jersey lawmakers. After undergoing her own challenging treatment and then spending several years fighting their insurance company’s denial of Bonnie’s treatment costs, Bonnie and John sought ways to become involved. And what an involvement that was! They advocated for every issue with their lawmakers, they covered their town with posters for Mesothelioma Awareness Day, they attended every Symposium and lent their support to anyone who needed it, they supported the Foundation financially, and, when they became able to, they also supported two Foundation research grants. To honor Bonnie’s legacy for years to come, this year the Foundation has instituted the Bonnie Anderson Changemaker Award.
