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International Mesothelioma Interest Group

Kazan Law Is Proud to Sponsor the 2021 International Mesothelioma Interest Group (iMig) Conference

Kazan, McClain, Satterley & Greenwood, A Professional Law Corporation, is pleased to announce its Gold sponsorship of this year’s International Mesothelioma Interest Group (iMig) 15th Biennial Conference, which will be virtual this year, from May 7-9, 2021. 

iMig is an independent group of scientists and clinicians working to understand, cure, and prevent mesothelioma, a cancer for which there is currently no cure.  iMig brings together researchers and physicians from all over the world to meet and exchange their research and knowledge.  As a law firm that represents hundreds of victims of mesothelioma and their families that are impacted by this deadly disease, we share iMig’s goal to find a cure to this deadly disease. 

Kazan Law has sponsored and attended iMig’s conferences each time since 2006 (Chicago) and travelled to Amsterdam (2008), Kyoto (2010), Boston (2012), Capetown (2014), Birmingham (2016), and Ottawa (2018).  The 2020 conference in Brisbane was cancelled due to the coronavirus outbreak and was rescheduled as this year’s virtual event.

In honor of mesothelioma victims and their families, Kazan Law is again funding the Young Investigators’ Award (YIA) at the iMig conference, as it has since 2008.  Winners of the YIA award will each receive $1,000 and global recognition for their ongoing research.  It gives us pleasure to acknowledge and support the work of these new scientists as they make new discoveries about mesothelioma and are proud to share brief videos of the 2020 winners, and the new 2021 winners, as they explain their award-winning work.

Out of the hundreds of papers submitted for presentation at the conference, Kazan Law is thrilled to have five abstracts of our own accepted this year for publication in the iMig conference collection of peer-reviewed abstracts.  Look for our videos online as founding partner Steven Kazan describes the Law Firm’s work. 

International Ban Asbestos Secretariat

Kazan Law’s dedication to a medical cure is also demonstrated through the Kazan McClain Partners’ Foundation that has awarded more than $7 million in grants for mesothelioma medical research.  Our foundation has further provided significant funding to the international efforts to ban asbestos use. The Foundation has again allocated $100k to fund grants to be awarded to iMig attendees, dedicated to mesothelioma research. 

During these challenging times of sheltering in place and fighting COVID-19, Kazan Law continues its mission on behalf of victims of mesothelioma, as it has since 1974, and to bring to justice those companies whose deliberate disregard for the public’s health and safety has brought so much suffering to innocent victims and their families.  If you have any questions about iMig, our Foundation, or the work of our firm, write to me at skazan@kazanlaw.com.

Kazan Law Is Proud to Support the 2018 International Mesothelioma Interest Group (iMig)

We are pleased to announce that once again this year, Kazan Law is a major financial supporter of the worldwide conference held by the International Mesothelioma Interest Group (iMig) an international group of scientists, doctors, researchers, and academic experts who devote their lives to trying to understand, cure, and prevent mesothelioma.  iMig was started in 1991, and since that time has had regular meetings, the 14th of which will be held this May in Ottawa, Canada, featuring participation of over 500 delegates from all over the world. We continue our unbroken string of providing major financial support since the meetings in Chicago (2006), Amsterdam (2008), Kyoto, Japan (2010), Boston (2012), Capetown, South Africa (2014), and Birmingham, England (2016).

In addition to our major general support and sponsorship of the particular conference activities, we are especially proud that in 2006 we suggested and offered to fund the establishment of the Young Investigator Award Program, recognizing academic work from five of the most promising young researchers presented at each conference.  The awards were first given in 2008, and have become a tradition at every conference since that time.  This year, five young scientists will receive these awards.  In recent years we have posted short videos prepared by the winners on the Kazan Law YouTube Channel so that everyone can learn about their work, presented in language directed to all of us non-scientists.  We hope to add videos from this year’s winners soon.

For the fifth consecutive conference, we have had academic papers accepted after undergoing the rigorous scientific peer review process, with abstracts published in the proceedings of the conference or related medical journals.  We are the only American law firm so honored; our work focuses on issues at the intersection of law and medicine, which we think would be of interest to iMig scientists. On several occasions we have been asked to present talks at conference sessions, including a keynote address during the Kyoto Conference.  Again, this year, I will be presenting a poster session, based on our accepted abstract, at two open sessions during the conference.  For a short video discussing our posters, please check our YouTube Channel.

The iMig conference is a great opportunity for me to visit with medical and scientific friends from around the world with whom I have been working for many years.  The panel discussions and academic presentations are always interesting, and the conference is always great fun.  I hope to be posting regular updates on interesting developments to our Facebook and Twitter feeds, so drop by and take a look.

Mesothelioma Litigation, Hippocrates and BAP1 Genetic Testing

In one of the three abstracts we are proud to be presenting at the International Mesothelioma Interest Group‘s (iMig 2014) conference in Cape Town, South Africa, Kazan Law associate Irena Kin worked with me on Mesothelioma Litigation, Hippocrates and BAP1 Genetic Testing.

Recent medical research has shown that there is a predisposition to mesothelioma in some individuals because of their genetics. Companies who are sued in mesothelioma lawsuits try to use this information as a defense. Kazan Law associate attorney Irena Kin discusses the importance for medical professionals hired by mesothelioma defense attorneys to understand and follow their ethical duties.

Mesothelioma Research Presented by Kazan Law at iMig 2014

I am pleased that our firm was chosen to present three research abstracts at the International Mesothelioma Interest Group (iMig 2014) conference in Cape Town, South Africa. In this video I provide an introduction to the mesothelioma research abstracts and explain how they are presented at the world’s leading conference on mesothelioma.

Kazan Law to Present at World’s Leading Mesothelioma Conference

We are very excited to be heading off to Cape Town, South Africa for the twelfth biennial meeting of the International Mesothelioma Interest Group (iMig 2014).

We are particularly honored that Kazan Law has been chosen to present some of our own research work at this conference. Like the Boston conference in 2012, this year again in Cape Town we are the only law firm in the world whose work has been accepted for presentation.

Kazan Law First to Support Upcoming iMig 2014 Conference for Mesothelioma Research

iMig 2014 Cape TownMesothelioma research, like all scientific research, does not happen without funds. Although funds for mesothelioma research come from government agencies, universities and hospitals, it is no secret that money from private sources helps get the ball rolling either through funding the grant application process, additional staff positions, purchasing state-of-the-art equipment or helping to support conferences where researchers from all over the world can sit together and really discuss ideas.

That’s why our firm Kazan, McClain, Satterley & Greenwood, A Professional Corporation is proud to be the first law firm to step up and provide substantial financial support for the upcoming 12th biannual International Conference of the International Mesothelioma Interest Group. (iMig)

We are pleased to continue to sponsor the International Mesothelioma Interest Group (iMig 2014) when it convenes in Capetown, South Africa this October, just as we did in Boston in 2012, Kyoto in 2010, Amsterdam in 2008 and Chicago in 2006.

Recently, our support for iMig has grown beyond our role as a sponsor. We were honored that four abstracts from Kazan Law were chosen for poster presentation at iMig’s 2012 Boston conference.  Ours were the only papers out of hundreds submitted for presentation that were submitted by attorneys.  The information we presented was based on 20 years of experience with asbestos trust funds and 40 years representing asbestos victims. As we focus on the fight for justice for each of our clients, the entirety of our discoveries in this process brings to light implications which we believe are of benefit to the greater good of all mesothelioma cases. It was a privilege to share them.  You can see a three-minute video of me explaining their significance here.

iMig is comprised of independent international scientists and clinicians with the mission of working to understand, cure and prevent mesothelioma.  The iMig conference is one of the most important meetings where scientific information on finding greater treatment solutions for mesothelioma is presented and discussed. Because we want to see an end to the suffering caused by mesothelioma, our firm has been a generous supporter for years. Our commitment to this cause and this conference is unwavering. We give substantially and we give early.

International Mesothelioma Interest Group Young Investigator Award Recipient Licun Wu

Dr. Licun Wu

In celebration of the meeting of the International Mesothelioma Interest Group’s recent meeting in Boston, at iMig 2012, we at Kazan, McClain, Lyons, Greenwood and Harley funded this year’s Young Investigator Awards, as we have done at each meeting since 2008. This is the third in a series of entries discussing the promising work of one of the recipients.

Researchers from the University of Toronto are figuring out how to use the body’s own immune system to boost the efficacy of chemotherapy in the treatment of malignant mesothelioma. Dr. Licun Wu, one of the scientists heading this work, was kind enough to sit down with us and discuss this exciting approach to medicine.

Activating the body’s defenses
Several medical experts are exploring ways to use the body’s immune system to kill malignant cells, according to the American Cancer Society. These approaches, collectively known as immunotherapy, may act directly on the cancer or support the actions of healthy cells.

In their laboratory, Wu and his team are focusing specifically on the behavior of the immune system between cycles of chemotherapy.

“Cancer cells tend to repopulate during the breaks between chemotherapy treatments. Evidence has shown that the rate of repopulation of surviving cancer cells accelerates over time, so better approaches to stop this process need to be developed,” said Wu.

The research team’s experiments revealed that blocking the actions of CTLA-4, a protein that acts as a brake on certain immune responses, helps prevent mesothelioma cells from repopulating during breaks in chemotherapy. Reining in this protein may allow a type of immune cell known as natural killer T cells to flourish and fight the disease.

This study potentially lays the groundwork for clinical trials that use CTLA-4 blocking medications. We at Kazan Law are happy to support this research, as we know that diversifying the types of treatments available to mesothelioma patients will do them a world of good by giving them more than one way to fight this disease.

Related posts:

International Mesothelioma Interest Group 2012 Young Investigator Award Recipient Karin Schelch

International Mesothelioma Group 2012 Young Investigator Award Recipient Yuen Yee Cheng

Kazan Law is the only Asbestos Law Firm in the World to present at iMig 2012

I am pleased and honored that Kazan, McClain, Lyons, Greenwood & Harley has been invited to present four abstracts at iMig 2012, an international conference where mesothelioma expert physicians and researchers gather from all over the world every two years to discuss recent developments.

Throughout the world there have been hundreds of papers submitted and approved for presentation. Only four of those papers were submitted by attorneys and all four of those papers are from our firm.

In this video I present and discuss four posters with abstracts published by iMig. This knowledge has grown from my 20 year experience with asbestos trust funds and almost 40 yrs representing asbestos victims. As hard as we focus on the fight for justice for each one of our clients, sometimes our discoveries in the process bring forth implications which are more important than the case itself.

Related posts:

Kazan Law to Present Four Abstracts at the iMig Boston 2012 Conference

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