World renowned and well published mesothelioma researcher, Dr. Michele Carbone, has been appointed Director of the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii. A dedicated research scientist, Dr. Carbone has the wonderful gift of bringing people of diverse interests together to work collaboratively. Dr. Carbone told attorney Gary Galiher that:
“Given the difficulty of medical research in this day and age, very few important medical breakthroughs can be accomplished by an individual researcher, no matter how smart. Those days are gone. Current medical research requires a team approach and I believe that assembling the best team of scientists I can bring together at the CRCH to work on the difficult issues of malignant mesothelioma is the best way to proceed.”
Dr. Michele Carbone
Dr. Carbone is also the Chair of the Department of Pathology at the John A. Burns School of Medicine at the University of Hawaii. Dr. Carbone was recruited to the cancer center in 2006 from Chicago and brought with him approximately $12 million in funding from grants and other sources. As such, he is the most highly funded mesothelioma researcher in our country.
Mesothelioma is a cancer caused by breathing asbestos fibers. It is a latent disease occurring 10 to 50 years after exposure and at present is incurable. Dr. Carbone’s life commitment is to understand how mesothelioma cells develop and why and what measures can be taken to stop their growth. He is one of the editors of a book entitled, “Malignant Mesothelioma: Advances in Pathogenesis, Diagnosis and Translational Therapies”.
Speaking with a charming Italian accent, Dr. Carbone originates from Rome and Calabria, a region located in the toe of the boot-shaped peninsula of Italy. After graduating from medical school at Universita Degli Studi Di Roma La Sapienza in Rome, Carbone worked as a fellow at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland for eight years. He then did his residency at the University of Chicago Hospitals in Anatomic and Clinical Pathology. Prior to coming to CRCH, Carbone was at Loyola University Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois.
Dr. Carbone and Gary Galiher listening to a presentation on the latest mesothelioma research at the CRCH
With his experience, talent and commitment, Carbone dreams of greatly expanding his mesothelioma research at the cancer center, especially in the area of therapeutic care for mesothelioma patients. As a vital part of this effort, Carbone collaborates with researchers around the world who are working with new mesothelioma treatment drug therapies as well as with clinicians in hospitals. Dr. Carbone, a leading mesothelioma researcher in the U.S., and Gary Galiher, a leading attorney who has represented mesothelioma clients for over 30 years, are working together to give Hawaii the first center for excellence on asbestos and mesothelioma in the country.
