The Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO) held its 20th Asbestos Awareness & Prevention Conference at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City on September 13. The theme was “Building on Dr. Selikoff’s Legacy in Asbestos Science, Prevention & Justice,” and the conference was dedicated to the heroes and survivors of 9/11. Among the topics discussed were Dr. Selikoff’s work and lasting legacy, recent advancements in treatments for mesothelioma (including ongoing, promising clinical trials), suppression of science and manipulation of public perception by corporations, and strategies for reducing exposures worldwide, including after disasters such as 9/11 and the recent wildfires in Los Angeles.
This year, ADAO gave its Dr. Irving Selikoff Award to Claudia Henschke, Brad Black, and David Yankelevitz. Its Alan Reinstein Award went to Karen Grant, who recently passed away from mesothelioma after surviving the disease for over 20 years, and John Feal, Army, 9/11 recovery worker, passionate supporter of the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act, and founder of the Feal Good Foundation, which has provided over $10 million in direct support to injured 9/11 responders and their families.
Throughout the panel discussions, three emotions emerged repeatedly: pride, optimism and frustration. Speakers celebrated hard-won legislative victories while expressing hope that medical breakthroughs—especially immune checkpoint inhibitors—would transform both survival rates and quality of life for mesothelioma patients. Yet this optimism was tempered by deep frustration on two fronts: the glacial pace of federal legislation through Congress, and the alarming rise in corporate-sponsored disinformation campaigns and junk science. Companies like BNSF and Johnson & Johnson have intensified their efforts to sow scientific doubt and intimidate researchers, undermining decades of established evidence about asbestos-related diseases.
ADAO, founded in 2004, is dedicated to completely banning asbestos in the United States and stemming the tide of preventable asbestos-caused disease in the United States and around the globe. Since 2004, it has grown into an impressive global network of experts in asbestos disease and education/prevention. Its board is comprised of preeminent experts in their respective fields, including Arthur Frank, Richard Lemen, Barry Castleman, Raja Flores, Steven Markowitz, Jaqueline Moline, Andrea Wolf, and Tom Laubenthal (to name just a few). Among its achievements to date are EPA’s Chrysotile Asbestos Part 1 Final Rule, the Asbestos Reporting Rule, and bipartisan progress of the Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now Act (ARBAN).
Darron Berquist is the managing attorney for asbestos litigation at The Lanier Law Firm, working from our New York City office.
