Meet the REACH Study Investigators 

Deepika Polineni, MD MPH

Professor (PEFA) and Cystic Fibrosis Center Director

School of Medicine, Washington University in St. Louis

REACH is a critical opportunity to bring people with CF together to advance new therapies. In REACH, the simple act of collecting research data can help new CF drug trials “cross a finish line” to evaluate how they work for people with CF. The process of getting new drugs into CF clinics is complex, but its success always depends on people participating in research. I am humbled by what people with CF have already done to change its history and honored to work with everyone across REACH “until its done for everyone”.

Nicole Mayer Hamblett, PhD

• Professor, Department of Pediatrics and Adjunct Professor, Department of Biostatistics, University of Washington
• Co-Executive Director, Cystic Fibrosis Therapeutics Development Network Coordinating Center, Seattle Children's Research Institute

The REACH study paves a critical path forward to support innovative clinical trials to advance a pipeline of therapies for people with CF who are not candidates for CFTR modulators. Data from REACH can be used to help efficiently evaluate the efficacy and safety of new therapies under development across outcomes that are meaningful to the CF community. Through the use of control data that can be shared across multiple clinical trials, we are able to move multiple “shots on goal” forward across our pipeline to ultimately bring CFTR therapies to all people with CF.

Henna Budhwani, PhD, MPH

Professor, Institute on Digital Health and Innovation

College of Nursing Florida State University

Modulators are scientific miracles for many people with Cystic Fibrosis (CF). However, not everyone can take them. It is our ethical responsibility to make scientific progress towards finding new ways to treat CF in people who are modulator ineligible or intolerant, which is a primary aim of REACH. Until all people with CF can receive life-saving treatment, we must continue to push forward. 

Felix Ratjen MD, PhD, FRCPC, FERS 

• Division of Respiratory Medicine Program Head, Translational Medicine 
• Professor, University of Toronto Hospital for Sick Children

Reach is a unique effort to engage people with CF who currently do not benefit from the novel therapies that have transformed the lives of so many individuals. It will also form the basis for how we evaluate these therapies moving forward. The study will be an important enabler to bring new therapies to CF so that in the near future we will have highly effective therapies for everyone. It is an honor to be part of this research team!

Scott Donaldson, MD

• Professor, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
• Hubert E. Hatcher Family Distinguished Professor of Medicine
• Co-Director, UNC Adult CF Care Center
• Associate Director, UNC Clinical and Translational Research Center

The REACH study is important to me for many reasons. Most importantly, this is a critical first step towards developing a pathway that will lead to effective new treatments for people with CF who haven’t been able to benefit from existing CFTR modulator treatments. This goal is both ambitious scientifically and laudable for focusing on those in greatest need.

JP Clancy, MD

Senior Vice President of Clinical Research, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

Professor of pediatric pulmonary medicine, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center