Meet the 2020 Scholars

"What do you believe is the greatest unaddressed patient need in the CF community, and if you could, how would you try to fix it? Who would you partner with (e.g. public figure, organization) to help fix the issue and why?"

I believe one of the greatest unaddressed patient needs in the CF community is the need to celebrate individual patients’ successes. It can be so hard when you seem burdened with complex regimens, when even doing those regimens perfectly doesn’t necessarily result in 100% success. But we know that if we can be consistent with our daily treatments and regimens, we can stay healthier overall. I think if we can design a rewards program to celebrate each patient's daily successes and efforts in trying to stay healthy, with external motivation; gift cards, prizes, and recognition, we could learn to control the controllables of CF, and develop good habits. I know personally it can be really hard to remember to do all the pieces of your regimen. For me I really struggled with consistently taking a specific medication causing me to have low levels. When my mom and I sat down and decided how we were going to fix this, we came up with a solution to make sure I wouldn’t forget to take that medication, and I have been consistent since. I really believe if there was a worldwide program or cell phone app for CF communities where they could track their progress and be rewarded for their consistent efforts in managing their regimens, our community could see enormous benefits.