Next generation CF care: CFRI'S Patrick Nash Fellows Training Program

Most people with cystic fibrosis (CF) know their lungs better than anyone. But what happens when living longer means needing care that reaches beyond the lungs? In this episode, our very own Ahmet Uluer, DO, MPH—co-founder of the CFRI Patrick Nash Fellows Program—joins Carolyn Nash to share the story behind the national initiative designed to prepare subspecialists to care for adults growing older with CF. Inspired by Patrick Nash’s legacy, the program was created to tackle one of the most urgent challenges in cystic fibrosis today: a growing mismatch between the number of adults with CF and the specialists prepared to care for them.

From GI and liver disease to sinus health and cancer risk, the burden too often falls on patients to educate their own doctors. You’ll hear from inaugural fellows Spyros Zouridis, MD, a gastroenterology and hepatology fellow, and Jessa Miller, MD, a rhinologist and skull-base surgeon focused on sinonasal health. They share their experiences and what surprised them most, along with how centering real patient stories is reshaping the way future specialists learn to care for adults with CF and what it means to build a national network of CF-informed subspecialists.

We talk about mentorship, research, and what this could mean for people with CF—now and decades from now. Along the way, you’ll hear about colonoscopy heroics, the ketchup-on-hot-dog controversy, and the fellowship’s true “secret sauce.”