PRESS CONFERENCE
WHAT: Dr. Keith Black accepts $438,000 check from Brain Tumor and Air Pollution Foundation and explains a new study that will explore a possible link between air pollution and brain cancer.
WHO: - Los Angeles Co. Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, Foundation Chairman and Board Member, South Coast Air Quality Management District; and - Keith Black, MD, Director, Cedars-Sinai Maxine Dunitz Neurosurgical Institute and Division of Neurosurgery. (See additional information below.)
WHY: A study by the American Lung Association has linked particulate pollution to lung cancer, and some occupational studies suggest a possible link between air pollution exposures and brain cancer. New data are showing that some fine particulate air pollutants are able to cross the blood-brain barrier in laboratory animals. When this natural defense system is breached, the result is brain cancer in these animals, raising the question: Could a similar process be taking place in humans?
WHERE: Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration, Room 864, 500 W. Temple St., Los Angeles
WHEN: Wednesday, October 1, 2003, at 9:00 a.m.
WHAT ELSE: Keith Black, M.D., is internationally renowned for his research on the blood-brain barrier and the delivery of chemotherapeutic drugs directly into tumors. He was awarded patents for his method for selective opening of abnormal brain tissue capillaries. At age 17 he published his first scientific paper, which earned the Westinghouse Science Award. Since then, he has published more than 150 scientific papers and has presented at over 200 professional meetings.
The Brain Tumor and Air Pollution Foundation is a California nonprofit public benefit corporation chartered by AQMD. Ten percent of AQMD's air pollution penalty revenues during fiscal year 2002-03 have been directed to support the foundation's research activities.
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