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David McCumber is the editor of The Montana Standard. Previously, he was Washington Bureau Chief for Hearst Newspapers, and has led newsrooms large and small over a career spanning nearly 50 years. He was managing editor of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer for the last nine years of that newspaper's print existence, during which the paper won several national awards for investigative and narrative journalism. McCumber is the author of three nonfiction books: "X-Rated: The Mitchell Brothers (Simon & Schuster), made into a film starring Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez; Playing off the Rail: A Pool Hustler's Journey (Random House); and The Cowboy Way: Seasons of a Montana Ranch (Avon). He is the co-author, with investigative reporter Andrew Schneider, of the book “An Air that Kills: How the Asbestos Poisoning of Libby, Montana Uncovered a National Scandal†(Putnam), based on a story Schneider broke while working with McCumber at the Seattle P-I. During his time at the San Francisco Examiner, where he was Sunday editor, city editor and an assistant managing editor, he edited Hunter S. Thompson's weekly column for about three years. He subsequently served as the editor of two of Thompson's books. He was the founding editor and publisher of the magazine Big Sky Journal. McCumber was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in 1984 for a series of stories he directed and helped to write on a defense-industry scandal in Tucson, Arizona.
Jordan Zevon ADAO's tremendous National Spokesperson is a teacher, singer, and songwriter. Jordan was executive producer for his father, Warren Zevon's, final album The Wind. He also co-produced Enjoy Every Sandwich: The Songs of Warren Zevon, which features an all-star cast of singers and musicians. Jordan recently released his own EP entitled Jordan Zevon which is available from CDBaby.com. Jordan's immeasurable commitment to asbestos victims and concerned citizens has provided a united voice that will continue to help ensure that their rights are fairly represented and protected, while raising public awareness about the dangers of asbestos exposure and often deadly asbestos related diseases.
Bio Michael Borowick was re-elected as ACTU Assistant Secretary at the ACTU Congress in May 2015, a position he has held since 2010. Previously Michael was an official of The Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) for 20 years, where he was the Victorian Branch Assistant Secretary and a member of the National Executive. Michael began his working life as an electrician, starting his apprenticeship in the building and construction industry. During his time at the AWU, Michael’s strong union values were integral to assisting members from various industries including steel, glass, metal, manufacturing, carpentry, joinery, building, construction, plastics and chemicals. As ACTU Assistant Secretary, Michael oversees all Occupational Health and Safety and Workers’ Compensation matters to ensure all workers have access to safe and healthy workplaces. Michael also represents the ACTU as a Director on the HESTA board, the industry super fund for Health and Community Services, as a member of the National Workplace Relations Consultative Council, Safe Work Australia, Safety Rehabilitation and Compensation Commission, Defence Reserves Support Council and Asbestos Safety and Eradication Council.
Richard Lemen, PhD is a former Assistant Surgeon General of the United States and also served as the Acting Director and the Deputy Director of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health before his retirement. He has been a practicing epidemiologist for more than forty years, and has taught graduate level courses on environmental and occupational health issues, including asbestos, at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. He has also testified on behalf of asbestos victims; Dr. Lemen is a world-renowned author, speaker, and lecturer on this topic.
Dr. Barry Castleman, ScD is an Environmental Consultant trained in chemical and environmental engineering. He holds a Doctor of Science degree from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health. He has been a consultant to numerous agencies of the US government and other governments, international bodies, and environmental groups dealing with a wide range of public health issues. He has testified as an expert in civil litigation in the US on the history of asbestos as a public health problem and the reasons for failure to properly control asbestos hazards. Dr. Castleman has spent the past 40 years working on asbestos as a public health problem.
Ellen Costa has been a volunteer with ADAO since 2012 and is honored to be of service to this very special organization; its mission, founders and supporters. Professionally, she has been in the financial services industry for over 25 years and has served firms in marketing, communications, product management and strategic planning. Her current position at Wells Fargo Home Lending is as a strategy consultant in the financial reform regulatory environment. Inspired by Linda Reinstein's commitment and passion in making change, influencing political policy and advocating for practical issues on a global level, lead her to involvement with the organization. The awareness, family support and leadership ADAO provides in creating the change needed in this world is truly powerful. Most importantly, she believes in Linda Reinstein and is truly privileged to serve the mission of ADAO.
Earl Dotter, began photographing coal miners in 1969, then the most dangerous job in America. After which, he focused on other hazardous occupations in the USA. After 30 years of documentation he created the exhibit and book, THE QUIET SICKNESS: A Photographic Chronicle of Hazardous Work in America. He has been a Visiting Scholar at the Harvard School of Public Health since his appointment in 1999. In the year 2000, Dotter received an Alicia Patterson Foundation Fellowship to document commercial fishing. It had become our nation's most dangerous trade. After 9/11, he photographed the rescue recovery effort at Ground Zero. For that exhibit work he received the APHA's, Alice Hamilton Award. Currently Dotter is following hazardous jobs new immigrants perform in the USA.
Hassan Yussuff was elected president of the Canadian Labour Congress in May 2014, becoming the first person of colour to lead Canada’s labour movement. Since his election, Hassan has led Canada’s unions to a number of significant victories. Making workplaces and public spaces safer has been a key priority for Hassan. He was exposed to asbestos as a mechanic in his early working life, and as a union activist learned that asbestos-related diseases are the number one cause of workplace-related deaths in Canada. As CLC President, Hassan campaigned hard for a comprehensive ban on asbestos, a ban we won in December 2016. As well as his work in Canada, Hassan is a prominent international activist. In 2016, he was elected for a second term as president of the Trade Union Confederation of the Americas, an organization uniting 56 national organizations representing more than 60 million workers in 23 countries.
Fernanda Giannasi is a Civil and Safety Engineer and ex-Labor Inspector for the Ministry of Labor and Employment for 30 years, currently retired and acting as an expert advisor for the Labour Prosecutors (Federal Labour Public Ministry) as well the asbestos victims’ solicitors. She is the coordinator of the Virtual Citizen Ban Asbestos Network for Latin America, founder of the Brazilian Association of People Exposed to Asbestos (ABREA) and Fellow of the Collegium Ramazzini. She serves as an expert witness in judicial cases related to asbestos, nuclear and other toxic chemicals as Mercury, POP´s (Persistent Organic Pollutants). She also led thousands of workers who have filed lawsuits against the asbestos industry. In charge of a Federal Labor Inspector, she staunchly defended the public interest on workers’ safety and health and was pressured by the asbestos lobby and endured all kind of pressures, harassments including death threats, offensive campaigns and criminal charges by her detractors. Despite of these threats, she has been awarded in Brazil and internationally in Canada (Ray Sentes Award), USA by the American Public Health Association (APHA) and the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE), and Japan by the Tajiri Muneaki Memorial Fund. She is internationally well known and highly respected for her proficient and perseverant campaigning to save lives from asbestos. Fernanda Giannasi is the personification of the fight against asbestos in Brazil. Not for nothing is she called ‘The Brockovich of Brazil’.
Dr. Arthur Frank, PhD, MD is a physician board certified in both internal medicine and occupational medicine and currently serves as Professor of Public Health and Chair of the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at the Drexel University School of Public Health in Philadelphia. He is also a Professor of Medicine (Pulmonary) at the Drexel College of Medicine. He also holds a position at Drexel as Professor of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering. A life-long academic, Dr. Frank has previously taught at Mount Sinai, the University of Kentucky and in the University of Texas System. He has served many governmental agencies in the US and has carried out research and has been a governmental advisor internationally. Trained in both occupational medicine and internal medicine, Dr. Frank has been interested in the health hazards of asbestos for more than 35 years. He has published a great deal of work on the hazards of asbestos, and clinically cared for asbestos effected patients. He has lectured internationally about the problems of asbestos, and worked in many settings looking at the diseases caused by this material. His research interests have been in the areas of occupational cancers and occupational lung diseases, as well as agricultural safety and health. For thirty-seven years he held a commission in the U S Public Health Service (active and inactive) and served on active duty both at the NIH and at NIOSH. Arthur is the ADAO Science Advisory Board Co-Chair.
Fernanda Giannasi is a Civil and Safety Engineer and ex-Labor Inspector for the Ministry of Labor and Employment for 30 years, currently retired and acting as an expert advisor for the Labour Prosecutors (Federal Labour Public Ministry) as well the asbestos victims' solicitors. She is the coordinator of the Virtual Citizen Ban Asbestos Network for Latin America, founder of the Brazilian Association of People Exposed to Asbestos (ABREA) and Fellow of the Collegium Ramazzini. She serves as an expert witness in judicial cases related to asbestos, nuclear and other toxic chemicals as Mercury, POP´s (Persistent Organic Pollutants). She also led thousands of workers who have filed lawsuits against the asbestos industry. In charge of a Federal Labor Inspector, she staunchly defended the public interest on workers' safety and health and was pressured by the asbestos lobby and endured all kind of pressures, harassments including death threats, offensive campaigns and criminal charges by her detractors. Despite of these threats, she has been awarded in Brazil and internationally in Canada (Ray Sentes Award), USA by the American Public Health Association (APHA) and the International Society for Environmental Epidemiology (ISEE), and Japan by the Tajiri Muneaki Memorial Fund. She is internationally well known and highly respected for her proficient and perseverant campaigning to save lives from asbestos. Fernanda Giannasi is the personification of the fight against asbestos in Brazil. Not for nothing is she called ‘The Brockovich of Brazil'.
Michael R. Harbut, MD, MPH, FCCP is Chief of the Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine: Clinical Assistant Professor, Wayne State University, School of Medicine, Detroit, Michigan. An internationally known expert in the diagnosis and treatment of environmental and workplace diseases, Dr. Harbut has been named co-Director of the National Center for Vermiculite and Asbestos Related Cancers. He is the co-author of the American Thoracic Society's 2004 Recommendations for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Non-Malignant Disease Caused by Asbestos Exposure. Dr. Harbut is a past chair of the occupational and environmental health section of the American College of Chest Physicians, and has served on the Board of Directors of the Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation. Dr. Harbut brings his expertise to address the need for early diagnosis and aggressive treatment of asbestos related diseases.
Senator Jon Tester will be recognized with The Tribute of Hope Award for his steadfast commitment to awareness, prevention, and policy to eliminate asbestos-related diseases.
Dr. Raja Flores will be recognized with The Dr. Irving Selikoff Lifetime Achievement Award in honor of his tireless dedication to increasing awareness about asbestos to eliminate diseases and research that leads to a cure.
Marie-Claude Jaurand, PhD will be recognized with The Dr. Irving Selikoff Lifetime Achievement Award in honor of her tireless dedication to increasing awareness about asbestos to eliminate diseases and research that leads to a cure.
Dr. Bruce Robinson will be recognized with The Dr. Irving Selikoff Lifetime Achievement Award in honor of his tireless dedication to increasing awareness about asbestos to eliminate diseases and research that leads to a cure.
Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families will be recognized with The Tribute of Inspiration Award for their unwavering commitment to protecting public health and our environment from toxic exposures.
Quincy Jones will be recognized with the Warren Zevon “Keep me in Your Heart†Tribute Award for using his comedic talent and story to raise awareness and action for mesothelioma and asbestos-caused diseases.
Associação Brasileira Dos Expostos Ao Amianto (ABREA) will be recognized with The Tribute of Unity Award for their relentless efforts, both nationally and internationally, to protect public health, ban asbestos, and increase public awareness about the danger of asbestos.
The Dioguardi Family will be recognized with The Alan Reinstein Award for their commitment to education, advocacy, and providing support to countless patients and families.
The Mattmuller Family will be recognized with the Alan Reinstein Award for their commitment to education, advocacy, and providing support to countless patients and families.
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