ASBESTOS - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Attorney
- Shareholder, Simmons Hanly Conroy
Attorney Chris Guinn is a shareholder at Simmons Hanly Conroy. Since he joined the firm in 2004, Chris has dedicated his practice to representing mesothelioma and asbestos-related disease victims and has recovered millions of dollars on their behalf.
Job Titles:
- Thoracic Surgeon
- Pleural Mesothelioma Specialist
Dr. Abraham "Avi" Lebenthal is one of the most accomplished pleural mesothelioma surgeons in the country. With a focus on minimally invasive thoracic surgery, Dr. Lebenthal currently practices surgical oncology at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and in the VA Boston Healthcare System.
Dr. Abraham "Avi" Lebenthal is a thoracic surgical oncologist who specializes in pleural mesothelioma treatment and research for civilians and veterans.
Dr. Lebenthal is one of the few mesothelioma experts who works specifically with veterans, and he has military experience of his own. He spent 13 years working in various divisions of the Israeli Army, four of which were as a battalion physician. He is uniquely compassionate about veteran needs and care.
"I have a deep admiration and respect for those who served in the military. One of the things you learn is: There is no such thing as ‘I can't.' You learn to take responsibility and ownership. And you better have precise execution. It's the same in medicine."
As one of only two mesothelioma specialists within the VA Healthcare System, Dr. Avi Lebenthal is an incredible asset to veterans diagnosed with mesothelioma.
Job Titles:
- Associate Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of California
- Medical Reviewer
Assuntina Sacco, MD is an Associate Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Moores Cancer Center, where she also serves as the Medical Director of Infusion Services. She is a board-certified medical oncologist trained to treat all solid tumor types, with the use of chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, and clinical trials.
Dr. Assuntina Sacco is an independently paid medical reviewer.
Assuntina Sacco, MD, is a board-certified medical oncologist trained to treat all solid tumor types, with the use of chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted therapy, and clinical trials. She specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of head and neck cancers, and primarily cares for patients with all types of head and neck cancer, including thyroid and salivary gland cancer.
Dr. Sacco is an Associate Professor of Internal Medicine at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) Moores Cancer Center, where she also serves as the Medical Director of Infusion Services.
Dr. Sacco earned her medical degree at Stritch School of Medicine at Loyola University in Illinois. She completed her medical residency in Internal Medicine at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Illinois. She completed her fellowship training in Hematology-Oncology at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she was named Fellow of the Year. Dr. Sacco is board-certified in both Internal Medicine and Medical Oncology.
Dr. Sacco is deeply committed to providing top-notch, evidence-based, patient-centered care. Her academic research is focused on standardizing cancer care delivery to reduce healthcare disparities through the development of multi-disciplinary care pathways, clinical trials involving novel therapeutics, cancer survivorship, and optimizing treatment-related outcomes and quality of life.
Her dedication to research has resulted in multiple presentations and lectures at national and international scientific meetings, as well as multiple peer-reviewed publications, including first author publication in Lancet Oncology.
Dr. Sacco has been appointed as a special expert for the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Steering Committee for the Previously Untreated Locally Advanced (PULA) Task Force. She also serves on the American Radium Society Head and Neck Appropriateness Use Criteria Committee. She is also a member of the UCSD Health Leadership Council and UCSD Moores Cancer Center Quality and Value Committee.
Dr. Sacco is also committed to teaching physicians in training. She is the UCSD institutional director for the Spanish Head and Neck Cancer Cooperative Group (TTCC) sponsored fellowship, which facilitates Spanish medical oncology trainees to observe cancer care practices at UCSD. She is also involved in resident and fellow training and didactics at UCSD and is a core faculty member of the UCSD Hematology-Oncology fellowship program.
Dr. Brian Loggie is an extraordinarily accomplished surgical oncologist, with nearly four decades experience. He is known for his ability and willingness to treat individuals with Stage 4 and terminal cancers, extending the life of individuals who seemingly had no options.
Job Titles:
- Peritoneal Mesothelioma Specialist / University of Chicago
Mark Levin, MD has over 30 years of experience in academic and community hematology and oncology. In addition to serving as Chief or Director at four different teaching institutions throughout his life, he is also still a practicing clinician, has taught and designed formal education programs, and has authored numerous publications in various fields related to hematology and oncology.
Dr. Mark Levin is an independently paid medical reviewer.
As one of the world's top oncological surgeons, Dr. Paul H. Sugarbaker cultivated a career focused solely on treating abdominal cancers. He has been recognized for his dedication to increasing survival rates and decreasing recurrence in peritoneal mesothelioma patients.
Please note: Dr. Paul Sugarbaker has retired and is no longer accepting new patients. We recognize his contributions to the field of mesothelioma research and treatment and are grateful for his dedication and innovation throughout his career.
Dr. Sugarbaker led an extraordinary career with a strong paper trail to prove it. In addition to more than 1,000 published articles and book chapters, he has edited seven books and created two dozen videos. His professional work has taken him to five continents, and he has received four honorary professorships.
As an internationally recognized physician, Dr. Sugarbaker is best known for his contributions to the treatment of mesothelioma and other abdominal conditions.
In fact, he is world famous for the development of the "Sugarbaker Procedure," a treatment protocol that combines cytoreduction surgery with perthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy (HIPEC), also known as heated chemotherapy.
"Heated drugs can be augmented in their activity from 20% to 30% up to 1,000%," explained Dr. Sugarbaker. "We try to use the more heat-augmented drugs, like mitomycin, cisplatin, and doxorubicin. We use those in the peritoneal cavity."
Dr. Paul Sugarbaker held several titles before his retirement, including Director of the Center of Gastrointestinal Malignancies and the Chief of Peritoneal Surface Malignancies at MedStar Washington Hospital Center. He previously managed his private practice, Sugarbaker Oncology, at the MedStar Washington Hospital Center.
In addition to treating patients, Dr. Sugarbaker continually searched for ways to improve the Sugarbaker Procedure in order to produce optimal results for all patients. He believed that there is a cure for cancers like mesothelioma and maintained his lifelong quest to discover it.
Dr. Sugarbaker's research spans a number of abdominal cancers with a prominent focus on peritoneal mesothelioma. He was also interested in carcinomatosis, studying the way that cancer spreads to secondary locations in the body, especially in large regions.
Dr. Paul Sugarbaker aggressively pursued a cure for peritoneal conditions, including mesothelioma, and he is known for taking risks that could potentially extend patients' lives. In fact, the HIPEC procedure was initially deemed highly controversial because of its intense postoperative nature.
Job Titles:
- Co - Founder and Former Director of the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation
- Director of UCLA 's Comprehensive Mesothelioma Program
- Founding Chief of the Division of Thoracic Surgery at West Los Angeles VA Medical Center / Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Surgical Oncology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
- Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery and Surgical Oncology at UCLA
- Scientific Advisor for the Pacific Mesothelioma Center
Dr. Robert B. Cameron is one of the most renowned pleural mesothelioma specialists in the world. Through his research, he has extended the life expectancy of his patients and improved their quality of life.
His most notable achievement is the development of the pleurectomy with decortication (P/D) surgery, which is now known as one of the most successful operations for pleural mesothelioma patients.
As one of the leading experts on pleural mesothelioma, Dr. Robert B. Cameron is the Scientific Advisor for the Pacific Mesothelioma Center in Los Angeles. Having founded UCLA's reputed mesothelioma program, Dr. Cameron remains an active director today. He also travels extensively throughout the U.S. to teach surgeons how to manage mesothelioma.
Dr. Cameron has been treating patients for over 20 years and is credited with inventing the pleurectomy with decortication (P/D) surgery that is now widely used to treat pleural mesothelioma. P/D is a lung-saving surgical procedure for pleural mesothelioma patients, where the lining of the affected lung is removed yet the lung itself remains intact.
As a board-certified general surgeon and cardiothoracic surgeon, Dr. Cameron has been involved in various studies for the National Cancer Institute, the Stanford University School of Medicine, the UCLA School of Medicine, and the UCSF School of Medicine.
Dr. Cameron is a co-founder and former director of the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation, the first medical research foundation and the only nonprofit organization committed to the diagnosis and treatment of mesothelioma. To date, the charity has been awarded a total of $22.5 million in grant funding.
Dr. Cameron studied biology and medieval studies at Sanford University in 1976. In 1980, he attended medical school at the University of Michigan and UCLA, where he was elected to early membership in the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Society (a high-achieving group committed to preserving the ideals of medicine) following his second year.
Upon graduating in the top 4% of his class, Dr. Cameron completed a one-year internship in surgery at UCLA School of Medicine before deciding to stay on for a five-year residency in general surgery. He fulfilled this fellowship at the National Cancer Institute, which ignited his passion for finding a cure for rare types of cancer.
Following his UCLA residency, Dr. Cameron traveled to New York to begin a two-year fellowship in Thoracic Surgery at Cornell University Medical Center.
In September 1994, he became Chief of Thoracic Surgery at UCSF in San Francisco, transferring to the same role at UCLA in 1997.
Dr. Cameron is now a professor of cardiothoracic surgery and surgical oncology at UCLA and Pacific Thoracic Surgery Associates, and Chief of Thoracic Surgery at the West Los Angeles VA Medical Center.
Dr. Cameron is also the director of UCLA's Comprehensive Mesothelioma Program, which he initially founded. The program uses his P/D procedure in conjunction with post-operative therapies, treating mesothelioma as a chronic condition.
His mesothelioma program strives to extend patients' survival rates while maintaining a strong emphasis on quality of life.
Dr. Cameron is credited with the invention of the P/D surgical procedure for mesothelioma - a lung-sparing curative surgery for pleural mesothelioma.
Dr. Cameron believes in maintenance therapy for pleural mesothelioma - an ongoing, daily medication to control the remaining mesothelioma cells and keep them at bay. His studies have proven that this method can work successfully for many years, and the patient can continue to live a relatively healthy life.
Dr. Cameron has been chief of thoracic surgery at the West Los Angeles Veterans Administration Medical Center since 1998 and is responsible for all aspects of thoracic surgical care and delivery.
Job Titles:
- Director of the Mesothelioma Treatment Center at Baylor College of Medicine 's Lung Institute
- Pleural Mesothelioma Specialist / Mesothelioma Treatment Center at Baylor College
Dr. Taylor Ripley is the Director of the Mesothelioma Treatment Center at Baylor College of Medicine's Lung Institute. He was personally selected by Dr. Sugarbaker to be his successor after proving his capabilities in mesothelioma treatment, surgical oncology, and cardiothoracic research.
Dr. Ripley's surgical experience is well-balanced, yet focuses heavily on thoracic oncology, including mesothelioma. He is also a proponent of minimally invasive surgical techniques and is leading ground-breaking research in cancer profiling and mesothelioma cell mutation.
Dr. Robert Taylor Ripley, known more commonly as Dr. Taylor Ripley, began his studies in biochemistry at Boston College, before pursuing medicine at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine and graduating in 2004.
Dr. Ripley completed his general surgery residency at the University of Colorado, followed by a fellowship in thoracic surgery at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, focusing on thoracic surgical oncology.
During his work at Memorial Sloan-Kettering, Dr. Ripley worked alongside many of the most significant names in mesothelioma research and surgery. Later, Dr. Ripley became a Thoracic Surgeon and Principal Investigator for the NCI.
Dr. Ripley made a name for himself while working at NCI as an associate professor of surgery for the Thoracic and Oncologic Surgery Branch.
His research work on esophageal adenocarcinoma discovered specific p53-mutations that could be recognized during treatment to determine the likelihood of a favorable outcome, and this discovery won the NCI Director's Innovation Award in 2016.
Dr. Ripley also created and served on the NCI's Foregut Team, which focuses on research and clinical trials for patients with tumors in the foregut. This Foregut Team is a multidisciplinary team that operates out of the National Institute of Health.