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| Elijah E. Cummings |
| U.S. House of Representatives |
| Maryland 7th District |
Congressman Elijah E. Cummings
has a personal connection to
lupus. He was born and raised
in Baltimore, Maryland, where
he still resides today. He obtained
his Bachelor’s Degree in Political
Science from Howard University,
serving as Student Government
President and graduating Phi Beta
Kappa, and then graduated with
honors from the University of
Maryland School of Law.
He began his career of public
service in the Maryland House
of Delegates, where he served for
sixteen years and became the first
African-American in Maryland
history to be named Speaker Pro
Tem. First sworn in as a member of
the U.S. House of Representatives
in 1996, Congressman Cummings
has proudly represented Maryland’s
7th District for seven terms.
Congressman Cummings is a
senior member of the House
Committee on Transportation and
Infrastructure, where he sits on the
Subcommittees on Highways and
Transit and on Railroads, Pipelines,
and Hazardous Materials and serves
as Chairman of the Subcommittee
on Coast Guard and Maritime
Transportation. He is also a senior
member of the House Committee
on Oversight and Government
Reform and the House Armed
Services Committee, where he sits
on the Subcommittee on Readiness.
Congressman Cummings
serves on numerous boards and
commissions. He is spearheading
an effort to strengthen the
Maritime curriculum at the
Maritime Academy in Baltimore.
He also serves on the U.S. Naval
Academy Board of Visitors, the
Morgan State University Board
of Regents, the Maryland Zoo
Board of Trustees, the Baltimore
Aquarium Board of Trustees, the
Baltimore Area Council of the
Boy Scouts of America Board of
Directors, and the Yale-Howard
Nursing Partnership Center to
Reduce Health Disparities by Self
and Family Management Advisory
Committee. He is an active
member of New Psalmist Baptist
Church. |
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| Thomas D. Lowdermilk, CPA, KAWG&F. |
Thomas D. Lowdermilk, CPA
is a partner in the Timonium,
Maryland firm of KAWG&F.
With more than 30 years experience
in public accounting, Mr.
Lowdermilk’s specialties include tax
services for construction clients and
structuring sales and acquisitions
of businesses, including tax-free
reorganizations.
Mr. Lowdermilk also provides a
wide range of tax services to individuals,
including estate and
retirement planning and represents
clients before the Internal Revenue
Service in connection with audits,
ruling requests and other matters.
A 1964 graduate of the University
of Maryland, Mr. Lowdermilk is a
member of the American Institute
of Certified Public Accountants
and the Maryland Association of
Certified Public Accountants. He
currently serves as the Board Chair
for the Community Health Charities
of Maryland and is a long-time
board member of Lupus Mid-Atlantic,
where he formerly served as
Board Chair. |
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| Honorary Chair |
| Patricia Coats Jessamy |
Patricia Coats Jessamy is the first woman to serve as Baltimore City State's Attorney and served on the board of directors of Lupus Mid-Atlantic (then the Maryland Lupus Foundation) for many years.
She began her legal career in Maryland in 1985 as an Assistant State's Attorney and in 1986 was appointed Chief of the Economic Crimes Division. In 1987, State's Attorney Stuart Simms appointed Mrs. Jessamy Deputy State's Attorney for Administration. In 1995, the Circuit Court unanimously appointed Mrs. Jessamy to State's Attorney when Mr. Simms resigned following his appointment as State Secretary of Juvenile Services. She was elected to her second term in November 1998 and re-elected to her third term in November 2002.
Mrs. Jessamy is responsible for more than 400 employees, including over 200 prosecutors and 200 professional, paraprofessionals, and support staff. She graduated from Jackson State University in 1970 with a degree in History and Political Science and received her Juris Doctorate from the University of Mississippi School of Law in 1974.
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| Natalie “Toby” Mendeloff |
Natalie “Toby” Mendeloff became
active in the Maryland Lupus
Foundation (as it was called 30
years ago) shortly after the organization’s
founding. Like many,
she was drawn to the organization
following her daughter’s diagnosis
of lupus. A 23-year old graduate
student, Katherine was a patient
of the well-known rheumatologist
Mary Betty Stevens.
“My husband was a physician and
when he was at medical school he
was taught that lupus was often a
fatal disease,” recalls Mrs. Mendeloff.
“When our daughter responded
favorably to the treatment
prescribed by Dr. Stevens, we were
thrilled.”
After attending a meeting of the
Foundation, Mrs. Mendeloff quickly
became a member and dedicated
volunteer. A review of the minutes
of those early years shows her rising
quickly from volunteer to a variety
of board positions and ventually
board president. She remembers
the days when Lupus Mid-Atlantic
was an all-volunteer organization
and members took turns staffing
the office, answering phones, assembling mailings and speaking at
community events.
Throughout the growth and change
of what is today Lupus Mid-Atlantic,
Mrs. Mendeloff has continued
to remain involved, volunteering
time and talent. When asked why,
she said:
“I remember that the guest speaker
at one of the first meetings I attended
was Dr. Lawrence Shulman,
a prominent rheumatologist at the
NIH. He noted that while lupus
was not a good disease to have, the
timing was so right because of active
medical research into a cure.
“That was 30 years ago. Let’s hope
we won’t have to wait another 30
years before a cure is found.” |
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| Jim Jacobs, Esq. |
| Law Partner |
| Jacobs & Dembert, P.A. |
Jim Jacobs is a partner in the
Baltimore, Maryland law firm
of Jacobs & Dembert, P.A. His
practice focuses on general
corporate, tax and business
planning matters. He regularly
engages in business acquisitions,
financing transactions and general
legal and business counseling
for clients including publicly
traded companies, privately
held middle market and familyowned
businesses and emerging
companies. In his health law subspecialty
he represents individual
practitioners and physician groups
on issues relating to practice
mergers and acquisitions, managed
care contracting, employment
agreements, joint ventures, buysell
agreements and other business
arrangements.
Mr. Jaco bs graduated from the
University of Maryland School
of Law in 1978, where he was
Order of the Coif, and obtained
his undergraduate degree from the
University of Maryland, College
Park in 1975, where he was Phi
Beta Kappa. He has served on
the Boards of the University of
Maryland (Board of Regents),
Levindale Hebrew Geriatric
Center and Hospital, Beth Am
Synagogue, Mount Washington
Improvement Association,
Association for Corporate Growth
- Maryland Chapter, the Maryland
Lupus Foundation, Inc., and
on various Maryland State Bar
Association Section Committees.
He is a frequent lecturer for The
Maryland Institute for Continuing
Professional Education of Lawyers,
the Maryland Association of
Certified Public Accountants and
the American Health Lawyers
Association. |
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