Dr. Raymond M. Wong, Ph.D. Will Work on Mesothelioma Projects
LOS ANGELES, June 8, 2012 — The Pacific Meso Center (PMC) announces the appointment of its new scientific researcher for its laboratory on Santa Monica Boulevard. A graduate of the University of Southern California, Dr. Raymond M. Wong, Ph.D. joins the center after 5 years with MannKind Corporation, where he worked in cancer immunotherapy and specifically on preclinical development for MannKind's MKC-1106-MT and MKC-1106-PP cancer vaccine programs.
At PMC, Dr. Wong, who has a Ph.D. in immunology and whose work has been published in many scientific journals, will be responsible for planning and conducting the research on malignant pleural mesothelioma, an asbestos-related cancer affecting the pleura – the lining of the chest cavity. Dr. Robert B. Cameron, M.D., scientific advisor at PMC, stated, "Dr. Wong comes highly recommended and is an outstanding scientist with the research knowledge in immunology and immunotherapy who will help PMC develop promising immunotherapy treatments for mesothelioma patients at a time when immunotherapy has again become a focus of research for many cancers. He will be collaborating with Dr. Dongmei Hou of the Punch Worthington Research Laboratory at UCLA and with Dr. Saroj Basak of the Veterans Administration Medical Center in West Los Angeles."
Dr. Wong also will collaborate with PMC's Scientific Advisor, Dr. Robert B. Cameron, who is a board certified cardiothoracic surgeon and surgical oncologist, the director of the UCLA Comprehensive Mesothelioma Program at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Chief of Thoracic Surgery at the West Los Angeles Veterans Administration Medical Center, and a long-time proponent of lung-sparing surgery for malignant pleural mesothelioma. Together Drs. Wong and Cameron will work to advance therapeutic cancer immunotherapy strategies from pre-clinical stages to phase I/II clinical trials.
About Pacific Meso Center
The Pacific Meso Center (PMC), a division of The Pacific Heart, Lung & Blood Institute, was established in 2002 with the goal of becoming the most innovative research and treatment organization in the world for patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM), a rare form of cancer related to asbestos exposure. PMC focuses on specific areas of research that improve mesothelioma victims' lives and longevity, particularly those promising treatments that approach MPM as a chronic, treatable disease. The ultimate goal of PMC is finding a cure for mesothelioma.
For further information, please contact:
Clare Cameron
The Pacific Meso Center
310-478-4678
Email
http://www.pacificmesocenter.org
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