Conference Overview and Report
Anne Mann, RFW executive director

We just returned from Boston and the best Waldenström's conference ever held. It was the largest crowd we've ever had, the most outstanding faculty of speakers, and the best arrangements, thanks to the Dana Farber support staff that went out of its way to insure everyone's comfort.

This has been a landmark year in our search for a cure, with clinical trials, the Banff conference and the Boston conference among the highlights. There's more to come, and we'll be reporting in more detail as soon as I get my notes in order.

Among the numerous highlights in Boston was an award honoring Arnie Smokler for his trail-blazing efforts on behalf of all with WM. Arnie's Waldenström's Cancer Fund joined the Research Fund for Waldenstrom's, Ltd. and other individuals and drug companies in sponsoring the Boston summit conference.

In connection with the award to Arnie we announced that the WCF and RFW have affiliated in order to unify our efforts in working on behalf of the WM community. We have been working together for the past year, and now have taken our arrangement a major step further.

It was particularly gratifying to have five trustees of the IWMF register and attend the Boston conference. Our hope is that IWMF will see its way toward helping us further unify the WM community by entering discussions on means of cooperation. It would be well worth it for everyone.

The RFW has every intention of continuing its full support of the efforts of Dr. Treon and Dana Farber Cancer Institute, as we have for the past few years. Hand-in-hand with those efforts are programs we have instituted with three other major cancer centers. Saturday we announced three new research grants, two from RFW and one from the WCF. All three of those grants have been named in Arnie's honor as "Smokler Research Grants." It's our tribute to Arnie as the founder of everything we collectively are doing to bring about a cure, and it helps insure that he will forever be remembered for his many contributions.

The Research Fund for Waldenstrom's, Ltd. is pleased to announce the following recipients of our 2001 research grants:

College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University in New York City Division of Medical Oncology and Hematology, Dr. Gwen Nichols and Dr. Cy Stein; Protocol: Modulation of the Activity of BCL-2 Family Members in Waldenström'sMacroglobulinemia

University of Alberta, Department of Oncology in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Dr. Linda Pilarski and Dr. Andrew Belch; Identification and Monitoring of the Unique Molecular Signature for Waldenström'sMacroglobulinemia

Jointly with the Waldenström's Cancer Fund, Molecular Immunology Group, Tenovus Laboratory, University of Southampton Hospitals. Southampton, U.K., Dr. Surinder S. Sahota; Defining the Maturation Potential of the Malignant Clone of Waldenström's Macroglobulinemia

Our Medical Advisory Board recommended funding for all of these both for their scientific validity and the excellent credentials of the applicants. Faced with a dilemma we therefore have awarded $20,000 to each of the applicants and recommended that they reapply for a second year of funding in 2002.

We also announced our new RFW website, with information on WCF soon to be added. It's up and running, thanks largely to Bob Bailey and Rene Paley Bain.

In an attempt to bring information on WM to more people around the country we also have developed a relationship with the International Myeloma Foundation which holds several weekend conferences from coast to coast. We are working to add specific WM content to the Saturday afternoon portion of the conferences, and offer that limited session to those with interest in WM. More on this as we make progress.
Meanwhile, thanks again to all who attended in Boston, and to the Dana Farber team for doing such a great job.

[back to top]