Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation
The Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation (Meso Foundation, formerly MARF) is a privately funded nonprofit organization that funds mesothelioma research, provides services to patients, educates the public, and advocates in Washington, DC, for governmental funding for mesothelioma research. The organization's mission is to eradicate mesothelioma, a cancer caused by exposure to asbestos, as a life-ending disease. Of its donors, 65% are individuals personally affected by mesothelioma. The remaining 35% include pharmaceutical companies, labor unions, plaintiff and defendant attorneys, and companies that have manufactured asbestos products. To date, the foundation has funded over $10.5 million  in clinical research and is the host of the annual "International Symposium on Malignant Mesothelioma". The organization was founded in 1999 and became tax-exempt in 2000. The organization's board of directors is composed by Marjorie Z. Zauderer, MD, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Chair; Jessica Blackford-Cleeton; Cheryl Bruner, Esq.; Keith Cengel, MD, PhD, University of Pennsylvania; Patrick Forde, MD, Johns Hopkins University; Jason Foster, MD, University of Nebraska; Randall Krocka, Sheet Metal Occupational Health Institute (SMOHIT); Aaron Mansfield, MD, Mayo Clinic; Shani Nembhard, Esq.; Sanjay Popat, MD, PhD, The Royal Marsden; R. Taylor Ripley, MD, Baylor University ; Buerkley Rose, MSN, RN, University of Chicago; Boris Sepesi, MD, MD Anderson Cancer Center; Daniel Sterman, MD, New York University; James Stevenson, MD, Cleveland Clinic; Antoinette Wozniak, MD, University of Pittsburgh; Bill Ziegler.