In addition to his love of Italian designer clothing, Hawaii’s Dr. Michele Carbone has three great interests: cancer, politics and food. Dr. Carbone’s recent mix of those ingredients has resulted in the creation of a new hospital in Turkey to treat patients suffering from mesothelioma, a rare and fatal form of lung cancer caused by asbestos. Carbone, the director of the Thoracic Oncology Program at the University of Hawaii, is well known for his research in Turkey on the genetic predisposition of some families for mesothelioma. Indeed, the American Association for Cancer Research has awarded Carbone and his team a $100,000 grant over two years as a result of that research. When the National Cancer Institute asked Carbone to host a pricey fundraising dinner to benefit cancer research, Carbone invited the Turkish surgeon general. During a gourmet dinner in August that Carbone prepared himself, he persuaded the surgeon general that a new hospital was needed in Turkey to allow the study there of early detection of mesothelioma. By April, the structure was completed. Carbone laughed: “I had to go all the way to Turkey to find a politician who delivered.”
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