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FAMRI’s Sixth Scientific Symposium, held in Miami, Florida, May 14-16 2007, was dedicated to the memory of Bland Lane (born May 12, 1929), a Flight Attendant Trustee, who died on February 15, 2007 in San Francisco. FAMRI’s Board of Trustees is saddened by the sudden and unexpected passing of our beloved Bland.

Bland was an extraordinary and accomplished woman, who struggled to lead an active and productive life, while suffering from COPD and heart disease that developed from working as a nonsmoking flight attendant for 46 years in smoke-filled airline cabins. Although to those unfamiliar with the impact of second hand smoke on the non-smoker, her death certificate implies that she was a life-long smoker. In recent years, Bland, along with fellow non-smoking flight attendants who, too, endured the agony of working in smoke-filled cabins, Patty Young, Lani Blissard and Leisa Sudderth, was a committed member of FAMRI’s Board of Trustees. Bland as an integral part of the Board voted to fund research in some of the most outstanding medical schools in the world. There is no doubt that Bland’s efforts will help find a cure for diseases caused by tobacco.

Bland was truly a renaissance woman with tremendous insight, who traveled the world, spoke multiple languages and charmed everyone she met. Bland was a true friend, loyal and compassionate.

Bland, we will love you and miss you forever.

The two and half days of sessions created a forum for the FAMRI grantees to collaborate with other scientists in the field on the findings emerging from the prior years’ studies and to learn about the historical perspective on the health effects of second hand tobacco smoke.

FAMRI’s five Chairs of the Centers of Excellence presented on Tuesday morning, including Neal Benowitz, M.D., Director of the Center at the University of California, San Francisco, which focuses on pulmonary and heart diseases; Varda Rotter, Ph.D., from the Weizmann Institute in Rehovot, Israel, studies the most recent advances in structural and functional analysis of human genes; Charles Rudin, M.D., Ph.D., from the Center at Johns Hopkins Medical School and Jonathan Samet, M.D., Ph.D. from the School of Public Health. The unique collaborative infrastructure within these two Schools has a goal to reduce the negative impact of exposure to second hand tobacco on human health; Jonathan Klein, M.D., from the Julius Richmond M.D. Center for Children through the American Academy of Pediatrics. A virtual center including researchers in institutions throughout the US, the Center addresses the health dangers to children from exposure to second hand tobacco smoke; and Claudia Henschke, Ph.D., M.D., and David Yankelevitz, M.D., Director and Co-Director of the FAMRI-IELCAP Collaborative Network at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center in New York. The study, which seeks 5,000 workers exposed to second hand smoke, (particularly flight attendants) encompasses a wide range of disciplines ranging from the use of CT scans for early detection of lung cancer, cardiovascular and other diseases related to SHS exposure, combined with advanced imaging processing to laboratory development of key biomarkers.

The lunch session featured FAMRI Distinguished Professor, Allan M. Brandt, Ph.D., Chair of the Department of the History of Sciences at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Brandt introduced his book “The Cigarette Century” an analysis and history of the rise of cigarette use in America, and the ramifications on the public’s health. Dr. Brandt was able to complete this history with his FAMRI Distinguished Professor Award.

FAMRI scientists chaired break out sessions in the afternoon on subjects important to FAMRI’s growth and future direction. David Burns, M.D., University of California San Diego and FAMRI Distinguished Professor, presided over “Collaborative Efforts”; Jonathan Samet, M.D., Johns Hopkins Medical School and FAMRI Distinguished Professor, presided over “Diseases of Tobacco Smoke Exposure”; Neal Benowitz, M.D., University of California, San Francisco and Director of the Center of Excellence at this institution, presided over “Measuring Second Hand Tobacco Smoke Exposure”; and Michael Siegel, M.D., Boston University and FAMRI Distinguished Professor, presided over “How do we protect flight attendants, children and others from enhanced and additional health damages from continuing exposure to Second Hand Smoke?”

Posters were displayed throughout the meetings, with prizes awarded. First place-Susanne E. Tanski, M.D., Richmond Center for Children; Second place-Andrew C. Lee, M.D., University of California, San Francisco; Third place-Miriam Katz-Salamon, M.D., substituting for Hugo Lagercrantz, M.D., Karolinska Institutet, Sweden; and raffle prize winner Diana Gugic, M.D., University of Miami, substituting for Vladimir Vincek, M.D., Ph.D.

Tuesday evening’s dinner was the stage for a memorial to Bland’s foot print in history as a flight attendant and her accomplishments as a FAMRI Trustee with a video created by FAMRI’s Program Assistant, Rachel Gdanski. Lani Blissard, FAMRI Flight Attendant Trustee, presented the video and commented on Bland’s unique life. Lani said had Bland written her memoirs they would have been called “Champagne for Breakfast.” Stanley Rosenblatt, FAMRI’s Chairman and CEO, bestowed the first Bland Lane International Distinguished Professor Award to Lars Edvinsson, M.D., Ph.D., a Professor of Medicine at Lund University in Sweden and a current FAMRI Clinical Investigator. The Award recognizes Bland’s desire to fund excellent science throughout the world and for the recipient’s valuable work in combating the diseases caused from exposure to tobacco smoke.

Wednesday morning centered on oral presentations by FAMRI scientists on their projects in cancer and non-cancer diseases caused by tobacco smoke exposure.