Board of Directors Profile
myeLoma today in conversation with richard saLetan
Myeloma Today: Please tell us a little about
now I see Dr. Morie Gertz. Over the past 16 years,
yourself.
I have received a variety of treatments for myeloma.
Richard Saletan: My wife Suzanne and I have been
Now I take prednisone and low-dose Cytoxan®.
married for over 40 years. We have two children. My
When did you become involved with the IMF?
son and daughter-in-law live in South Carolina, and
have two boys, ages 5 and 7. My daughter and her
Right after 9/11, I decided that I wanted to contribute
husband live in Massachusetts, and have a 4-year-
in some way to the myeloma community ­ by then,
old daughter and a 2-year-old son. I take enormous
I had retired from my business career ­ so I called
pride in my family and get the greatest joy from my
Susie Novis at the IMF. Immediately, she saw how
grandchildren!
my business experience could be of service to the
Foundation and its members. I began working with
Professionally, I have over 40 years of experience
Susie and Dr. Brian Durie in the business planning
in business management, strategic planning, and
area of the IMF. Soon thereafter, the "positioning
marketing for Fortune 100 companies. I founded
line" ­ "Until There is a Cure... There is the IMF."
Weston Group Inc. and, as its chairman and CEO,
­ came into being. Next, we developed an annual
built it into a world-class consulting organization
plan for the IMF. Then I became a member of the
with over 75 employees. Our clients included Dow,
IMF Board and, a few years later, a member of its
Coca-Cola, Pepsi, General Foods, Chase Manhattan
Executive Committee.
Bank, American Express, Keebler, Nabisco, Bristol-Myers, Shell Oil, and
AT&T among others. I also served on the Board of Directors of a NYSE
Can you tell us about your work on behalf of the Foundation?
company.
I work closely with Susie and the Board. The annual business plan is
one project to which I continue to contribute every year. IMF progress
How did myeloma enter your life?
has been remarkable ­ I have seen the Foundation triple its revenue in
One day, while playing golf, I felt a pain in my back after I made a swing.
the last five years! This growth in funding has allowed the IMF to create
The pain was so bad that I could no longer lift the club. I went home and
and to launch many new programs and services for patients around the
called my doctor. Because I had previously experienced problems with my
world, caregivers, and professional members of the myeloma community.
spinal discs, my doctor suggested I visit a chiropractor. The chiropractic
We have expanded our educational programs and increased our overall
adjustment did not offer relief. In fact, I collapsed at home the next day.
funding for research.
In the emergency room, when the doctor tried to sit me up, I went numb
from the middle of my chest down. A neurosurgeon rushed me into an
Probably the most sig-
MRI machine, then into surgery, where it was revealed that a compression
nificant research project
of the T6 vertebra produced a blood clot that had landed on my spinal
being funded by the
cord. A laboratory examination of the bone from the compression con-
IMF is the innovative
firmed the myeloma diagnosis. That was 16 years ago.
Bank On A Cure® ini-
tiative. In 2002, Susie
What medical treatment did you receive?
Novis called me after the
I spent 10 weeks in the hospital, then a year in physical therapy. My wife
IMF Scientific Advisory
happened to have worked for a hematologist, and he put me on a regimen
Board's annual retreat,
Saletan at an IMF Patient & Family Seminar
of melphalan and prednisone. After a year of treatment with my counts
and shared with me an
with Dr. Robert Kyle
below normal, he sent me to a local myeloma specialist who told me I had
idea of founding a col-
three years to live. I didn't like what I heard, so I sought out the most expe-
laborative DNA databank to provide doctors with access to DNA data that
rienced myelo-
could help move our understanding of myeloma forward. In my opinion,
ma doctor I
Bank On A Cure holds out tremendous promise, both for patients and the
could find. That
medical community. Cancer treatment that is customized for the patient's
man was Dr.
individual DNA profile will facilitate more effective and less toxic healing.
Robert Kyle at
This concept also assists pharmaceutical companies in developing, engi-
the Mayo Clinic.
neering, and refining drugs.
I remained a
What is your outlook for the future of the IMF?
patient of Dr.
Kyle's until he
Frankly, I look forward to the day when the IMF goes out of business! The
retired
from
bottom line is that the IMF is here to help patients; when a cure for this
clinical
prac-
disease is found and myeloma becomes history, our job will be done. But
tice. I still go
the only way the IMF will be able to achieve extinction is if we are suc-
to Mayo every
cessful in continuing to increase our funding for research, while we help
Saletan at the IMF Gala with wife Suzanne
six months, but
today's patients and their doctors deal with the disease. mt
and Susie Novis.
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