EPISODES
EP 0
OFFICIAL TRAILER!
Welcome to the launch trailer for It's a Lung Story! In this podcast, we explore the realities of aging with cystic fibrosis (CF) in the era of modulators and medical advancements. Through expert interviews, personal narratives, and compelling storytelling, we get into real conversations about both the challenges and the resilience of the CF community.
Whether you have CF, know someone who does, are a caregiver, healthcare provider, medical student, or just enjoy a good pun as a podcast name, we have something for you.
EP 1
OMG CFRD?
Understanding CF-Related Diabetes
Managing cystic fibrosis is tough—but adding cystic fibrosis-related diabetes (CFRD) to the mix? That’s next level. Not everyone with CF develops CFRD, so why does it happen? And what are the emotional and mental tolls of a second diagnosis?
These are just a few of the questions we’ll tackle on the inaugural episode of It's a Lung Story. Ahmet, Lauren, and Andrea explore all things CFRD with Dr. Melissa Putman, an endocrinologist and expert in CFRD at Mass General Brigham in Boston. Together, they dive into what makes CFRD different from other types of diabetes, the importance of screening (and how it can be improved), and the long-term risk factors that come into play now that people with CF are living longer.
Andrea and Lauren get personal, sharing their own experiences of receiving a CFRD diagnosis. The four also discuss the stellar math skills required to constantly count carbs, why diabetes in CF doesn't get its own fancy number like Type 1 or Type 2, and the exciting potential of the bionic pancreas—and what it could mean for people like Lauren and Andrea. And of course, expect a few detours—because CFRD, much like life, refuses to follow a script.
EPISODE 1 GUEST Dr. Melissa Putman is a leading endocrinologist specializing in Cystic Fibrosis-Related Diabetes (CFRD) at Mass General Hospital in Boston. She is a medicine and pediatric-trained physician at a Harvard-affiliated hospital and leads multiple clinical trials in bone health and CFRD treatments. She was also a plenary speaker at the 2024 North American CF Conference, where she discussed cutting-edge research on CFRD and the potential of the bionic pancreas in CF care.
EP 2
BUT YOU LOOK HEALTHY
Mental Health & CF
In this episode of It’s a Lung Story, we dive into the complex relationship between mental health and cystic fibrosis. Joined by Dr. Anna Georgiopoulos, a psychiatrist at Mass General Brigham and an expert in CF mental health, we explore how medical advancements have transformed physical health without always improving mental well-being, the emotional challenges of aging with CF, and the evolving dynamics of caregiver relationships.
Dr. Georgiopoulos shares insights from groundbreaking research, including the upcoming RETRIAL study, which examines how newer CF modulators affect mental health. We also discuss survivor’s guilt from an unexpected angle, and the reality that looking healthy doesn’t mean living without struggle.
We’ll also talk about cheating on mental health screenings, dancing with our dogs, and the evolution of swear words in Taylor Swift's discography. Mental health is serious—but that doesn’t mean we can’t have a bit of fun along the way.
EPISODE 2 GUEST: Dr. Georgiopoulos has served as consulting child, adolescent and adult psychiatrist at the Massachusetts General Hospital CF Center since 2005. She is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and leads clinical trials in CF mental health and palliative care. Dr. Georgiopoulos is chair of the CF Foundation Prioritizing Research in Mental Health (PRIME) working group, chair of education and training for the CF Foundation Mental Health Advisory Committee, and US liaison to the European CF Mental Health in the Era of CFTR Modulators Working Group.
EP 3
SALTY & SEXY
CF Reproductive & Sexual Health (Part 1)
Sexual and reproductive health isn’t always talked about in CF clinic—but we think it should be part of normal clinic discourse. In episode 3 of It’s a Lung Story, Ahmet, Lauren, and Andrea are joined by two incredible guests: pulmonologists Dr. Raksha Jain and Dr. Traci Kazmerski, national leaders in CF sexual health research and absolute pros at keeping it real.
Together, we talk about how CFTR modulators are reshaping fertility expectations, what male infertility in CF really looks like, the surprising CF pregnancy boom, and why vaginal pH levels matter more than you'd think. We also get into why CF care teams need to talk more openly about contraception, capacitation (look it up!), and yes—there’s a chocolate visual you’ll never unhear.
There was so much to unpack, we had to split the conversation into two episodes. Part 2 will tackle menopause, intimacy, hormone therapy, and a few things you didn’t even know you wanted to hear.
CONTENT NOTE: This episode includes candid discussions about sexual and reproductive health in CF, with references to anatomy, intimacy, and fertility.
EPISODE 3 GUESTS: Dr. Traci Kazmerski is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Chair, UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh Transition Task Force. She is also the Vice Chair of the CFF sponsored Sexual Health, Reproduction and Gender Research Working Group (SHARING). Her research involvement includes the HOPeCF to study the interplay of having CF and becoming a parent on long-term health outcomes, as well as PRIDE CF to understand the intersection of identifying as LGBTQIA+ and having a chronic illness like CF. She is also interested in Male Sexual and Reproductive Health concerns to define the experiences of males with CF related to sexual and reproductive health. In the coming year Dr. Kazmerski plans to conduct interviews with males with CF, their partners, and parents of boys with CF to study their experiences related to fertility concerns in CF, family-building (including assisted reproductive technology), and identifying useful tools. Her overarching focus is community-engaged research so all these studies are built around people with CF and the CF community.
Dr. Raksha Jain is a Professor of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, and the Adult CF and Bronchiectasis Program Director, as well as the Director of CF Therapeutics Trials at UT Southwestern. She is also the Chair of the CFF sponsored Sexual Health, Reproduction and Gender Research Working Group (SHARING). Her research interests and involvement includes sex disparities and the impact of sex hormones such as estrogen and testosterone on lung health and immunity. She is also studying the impact of pregnancy, including the MAYFLOWERS study to prospectively and observationally understand pregnancy in females with CF. She is also involved in PRIDE CF to understand the intersection of identifying as LGBTQIA+ and having a chronic illness like CF.
EP 4
SALTY & SEXY
CF Reproductive & Sexual Health (Part 2)
In Part 2 of Salty and Sexy, we go further into what it means to age with CF—and how that intersects with reproductive and sexual health. Dr. Raksha Jain and Dr. Traci Kazmerski are back to talk about the realities of perimenopause and menopause in CF, including hormone therapy, bone density, and the growing need for cancer screenings.
They also break down current research efforts, such as the Protect Workshop and the Mayflowers study, investigating prenatal exposure to CF modulators. We get real about the unspoken intimacy challenges of CF and offer practical advice for navigating them. The conversation also addresses the emotional and clinical gaps in care for CF patients as they age, and the importance of making space for sexual and reproductive health in clinic conversations.
Come for salty and sexy; leave wondering why we aren’t talking about this more.
CONTENT NOTE: This episode includes candid discussions about sexual and reproductive health in CF, with references to anatomy, intimacy, and fertility.
EPISODE 4 GUESTS: Dr. Traci Kazmerski is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and Chair, UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh Transition Task Force. She is also the Vice Chair of the CFF sponsored Sexual Health, Reproduction and Gender Research Working Group (SHARING). Her research involvement includes the HOPeCF to study the interplay of having CF and becoming a parent on long-term health outcomes, as well as PRIDE CF to understand the intersection of identifying as LGBTQIA+ and having a chronic illness like CF. She is also interested in Male Sexual and Reproductive Health concerns to define the experiences of males with CF related to sexual and reproductive health. In the coming year Dr. Kazmerski plans to conduct interviews with males with CF, their partners, and parents of boys with CF to study their experiences related to fertility concerns in CF, family-building (including assisted reproductive technology), and identifying useful tools. Her overarching focus is community-engaged research so all these studies are built around people with CF and the CF community.
Dr. Raksha Jain is a Professor of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, and the Adult CF and Bronchiectasis Program Director, as well as the Director of CF Therapeutics Trials at UT Southwestern. She is also the Chair of the CFF sponsored Sexual Health, Reproduction and Gender Research Working Group (SHARING). Her research interests and involvement includes sex disparities and the impact of sex hormones such as estrogen and testosterone on lung health and immunity. She is also studying the impact of pregnancy, including the MAYFLOWERS study to prospectively and observationally understand pregnancy in females with CF. She is also involved in PRIDE CF to understand the intersection of identifying as LGBTQIA+ and having a chronic illness like CF.
EP 5
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?
CF and Hearing Loss
Hearing loss is often overlooked as an important aspect of CF care. In episode 5, 'Can You Hear Me Now?', we explore why it shouldn't be.
If you catch a faint, high-pitched beeping during the episode, don’t adjust your headphones—it’s Andrea’s diabetes pump. Ironically, she couldn’t hear it, because of her high-frequency hearing loss. Consider it a real-world remix of chronic illness, notification fatigue, and assistive tech that sometimes...isn’t.
Andrea, Ahmet, and Lauren are joined by Dr. Angie Garinis: an audiologist, researcher, and expert in hearing and balance disorders—especially when caused by medications like aminoglycoside antibiotics (specifically tobramycin) commonly used to treat lung infections in CF. She breaks down the science of ototoxicity and shares what people with CF need to know about protecting their hearing and vestibular health. Annual hearing checks, she argues, should be as routine as eye exams—and yes, there are apps for that.
We talk tech advances like over-the-counter hearing aids, app-based screenings, and why not all devices are created equal. Andrea also shares her post-transplant experience with sound sensitivity, balance challenges, and advocating to avoid receiving aminoglycoside antibiotics.
From partner dynamics to portable audiograms, this episode blends humor, insight, and lived experience. Ghost stories, snack confessions, and singing audiologists are, of course, included. It’s the episode you didn’t know you needed to hear.
EPISODE 5 GUEST: Dr. Angela Garinis is an Associate Professor in the Oregon Hearing Research Center at Oregon Health & Science University and a licensed clinical audiologist. Her expertise centers on drug-induced hearing and balance disorders (ototoxicity), with a particular focus on aminoglycoside therapies. She contributed to the development of the 2022 Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF) multidisciplinary consensus recommendations for otolaryngologic care which included recommendations on ototoxicity management . Additionally, Dr. Garinis serves as co-chair of the International Ototoxicity Management Working Group’s aminoglycoside focus group, where she led the creation and publication of an expert consensus statement titled Clinical Considerations for Routine Auditory and Vestibular Monitoring in Patients With Cystic Fibrosis, published in the American Journal of Audiology.
EP 6
CF TRANSPLANT STORIES
3 Women’s Voices
You asked for an episode on lung transplants—so we made two. (And there will be more). In the first half of CF Transplant Stories: 3 Women’s Voices, we talk with 3 women from the cystic fibrosis (CF) community—Tara, Beth and Caleigh—about what it means to make the choice to pursue a lung transplant—sometimes more than once. They share what it’s like to be denied, to learn that a first set of lungs might not be the last, and what it’s like to face cancer (after two transplants).
Along with survivor’s guilt, grief, and the emotional toll of constant advocacy, there’s also humor, connection, and the relief of being understood when you hang with others who’ve faced similar things. The women also reflect on the lasting mental toll of a lung transplant—PTSD, anxiety, and the emotional whiplash of preparing for both life and loss at the same time. This episode sits in the space before and after “the call”—and what it takes to say yes to the unknown.
Find our guests on instagram:
Tara Lisabeth @alivewitheverybreath
Beth Peters @bethpeters80
Caleigh Haber @fight2breathe