LungBlog

What do Neiman Marcus, Bergdorf Goodman and the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation have in common? Jessica Kagan Cushman. Introducing the new Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation LUNGSTORE with a BANGle! We’ve steered clear of the multi-colored rubber wristbands for a reason. Lung Cancer is too important and when the rubber meets the road…it deserves a store filled with SIMPLY THE BEST, most desirable, and eye-catching inventory. Stay tuned for new items as our store expands.

Bonnie J. Addario, a former oil-company executive in San Francisco, is a lung-cancer survivor. When she first started thinking about how to make a difference, she figured, “I’ll run a gala and a golf tournament, raise money for research, and that will be it.” Mrs. Addario, 60, raised $800,000 through a foundation she set up in 2006. She distributed the money to a number of researchers, and then realized, “there are a lot of wonderful people doing great work, but lung-cancer survival rates [of 15.5% after five years] haven’t changed for 40 years. Why is that?”

To find answers, Mrs. Addario and her husband, along with David M. Jablons, her surgeon from the University of California, San Francisco, put together a two-day conference last fall of lung-cancer researchers from major institutions around the world. She says the group identified a number of problems that hinder progress toward a cure. Among them: Researchers didn’t know what others were doing, tissue and blood specimens needed for experiments weren’t centrally located or shared, and the findings of experiments weren’t integrated to help assess what the key priorities should be.

Mrs. Addario started a new organization, the Addario Lung Cancer Medical Institute, and hired CollabRx to address some of these issues. The company is helping the institute build a virtual specimen bank where researchers participating in the project can share patient specimens and establish joint standards for collecting future specimens. Using the CollabRx Web-based network, the researchers can share research and ideas, and quickly reprioritize projects as new information comes up. Mrs. Addario says the institute expects to spend at least $5 million over the next year to set up the virtual biotech, fund researchers and establish the specimen bank.

(as reported in the Wall Street Journal)

Third annual golf tournament benefits the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation. Tournament includes trophies, contests and prizes. $150 (reception and dinner), $450 (golf and dinner), $1,600 (foursome), sponsorships $2,006-$25,000. Sept. 22. Lake Merced Golf & Country Club, Daly City. (415) 357-1278

June 25, 2008 marks a revolutionary day in history for anybody who cares about Lung Cancer, the Number One Cancer Killer in this country. It’s almost tantamount to July 4th, Independence Day, for Lung Cancer. For the first time, in the last four decades, Lung Cancer finally has a voice, thanks to Senators Chuck Hagel, Dianne Feinstein and the tireless work over the last five years of Laurie Fenton, Sheila Ross and the Lung Cancer Alliance.

Making Headlines: Lori Hope, a member of The Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation, recently discussed her tips for caring for lung cancer patients in the Wall Street Journal

Lung Cancer is the #1 cancer killer, yet it is TREATABLE and 
BEATABLE. If you or someone you know are 40 or over and at risk, 
please contact Kate Tully, Lung Cancer Program Screening Coordinator 
at 650.367.LUNG. $399/scan. Brought to you by Bonnie J. Addario Lung 
Cancer Foundation at Sequoia Hospital in Redwood City.

Joan Gaeta’s husband and their five kids threw her a party Saturday night.

Her photos greeted guests by the front entrance. Tall vases with calla lilies graced the tables. The dance floor was ready for action.

She would have loved it.

Not long after the lifelong nonsmoker died at 68 from lung cancer in July, her family started talking about an event in her memory.

8pm ET / 5pm PT on HEADLINE NEWS
“Nancy Grace” is television’s only justice themed/interview/debate show, designed for those interested in the justice story of the day. Bonnie J. Addario and Boardmember Deborah Morosini, MD will discuss Lung Cancer.

Literally hours after non-smoker Dana Reeve, wife to actor Christopher Reeve, died from lung cancer, Bonnie Addario filed papers for the Bonnie J. Addario Lung Cancer Foundation. “Lung cancer is the number one cancer killer and the survival rate is only 15.5 percent,” says Addario, a woman who has been a lung cancer survivor for three-and-a-half years.

 Lung cancer didn’t stop Bonnie Addario, 60, from giving a big voice to those suffering from the same cancer as her.
The San Carlos resident began a nonprofit organization that gave more than $2.5 million in the last two years to research and provide awareness on the cancer that kills more people than any other cancer.
“There are too many people dying every day,” she said. “Four-hundred-and-fifty-five people die every day from lung cancer … That’s like an airplane crashing every day,” she said.