Letter from the Chairman

2013 has been an exciting and productive year for the Pacific Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (PHLBI), including our main division, the Pacific Meso Center. In 2014, we have an opportunity to reflect on the important strides we have made, on our current goals, and on our strategies for realizing those goals. We remain focused on discovering both practical and costeffective treatments, as well as possibly cures for malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM), a deadly disease that may be able to be conquered through well-funded research. Since we cannot do this alone, partnerships and collaboration are vital to our success, as evidenced by the progress we have achieved through joint efforts with organizations such as UCLA, Menssana Research, Veterans Administration of Greater Los Angeles, and the Cancer Research and Biostatistics Foundation.

Our collaborators also extend to you—our funders, large and small—who collectively are helping to make the PHLBI an internationally recognized organization with the vision and capabilities to conduct and sponsor groundbreaking studies on novel therapies for various heart, lung, and blood diseases.

Over the past year, we have established, under the umbrella of the PHLBI, several new nonprofit centers to evaluate the benefits of mesenchymal stem cells as an intervention for mesothelioma, lung cancer, thymic cancer, and cardiac disease. Mesenchymal stem cells are one of the most promising therapeutic technologies currently available, but their sources, as well as their applications in treating diseases are limited. In keeping with the PHLBI's frontier spirit, we are boldly charting a new path in next-generation laboratory research to test the effects of mesenchymal stem cells from discarded placentas—a safe and feasible source of these cells—in stopping cancer. Plans are already underway to test the effects of specially modified mesenchymal stem cells, designed by our own laboratory-based research scientists, to halt cancer cell growth..

The Pacific Meso Center's endeavors in patient advocacy are also gaining momentum as we expand our complimentary services to include health education. Last year, in association with UCLA, PHLBI held its 3rd International Symposium on Lung-Sparing Therapies that was well attended by doctors, nurses and patient families.

Our recently revamped, richly informative, and user-friendly website is proving to be a valuable tool for fostering public health education about our focal diseases—mesothelioma, lung cancer, heart disease, and anemia.

Funding is still a priority. We need adequate financial resources to fulfill our mission to ultimately save thousands of lives through both disease prevention education and rigorous research on customized therapies, especially for cancer and heart disease. In 2014 we will launch an endowment campaign to become a sustainable driving force in mesothelioma research and patient empowerment. With your assistance, we can continue our existing costeffective programs while also embarking on seminal projects. Our efforts may lead not only to innovative solutions for mesothelioma, but also to viable new approaches to treating other serious diseases. We eagerly welcome the generous contributions of individual and corporate benefactors seeking to underwrite an endowment. And we thank our many donors, volunteers, and affiliate organizations who have made a difference in the lives of patients and their families we serve. We look forward to your continued and meaningful support. Together, we can transform the face of mesothelioma, perhaps one day turning it into a manageable chronic, but not inevitably fatal, condition.

Hal Lieberman, Chairman