Robert J. Beall, Ph.D., president and CEO of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, opened the session with a videotaped welcome from Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., director of the National Institutes of Health and a member of the international team that discovered the CF gene.

“Together we have dared to dream and the dreams are coming true,” Collins said. “With the CF Foundation's support, you have continued to make remarkable progress advancing the science and the treatment of CF. You are helping to transform lives.”

Cam McLoud, chair of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Board of Trustees, thanked participants for their steadfast and united dedication to the CF community. “Cystic fibrosis is never about one person,” said McLoud. “This disease affects entire communities. It causes us to change the way we live, breathe and think about the future. It also causes us to redefine the word family.”

Concluding the session, keynote speaker Michael P. Boyle, M.D., FCCP, associate professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University of Medicine, shared results from recent clinical trials targeting the underlying cause of CF. He then discussed the progress of cutting-edge drug discovery and development programs to bring effective new treatments to all people living with the disease.

A highlight of the first plenary was the presentation of a special award of appreciation to Bonnie Ramsey, M.D., for her leadership of the CF Foundation's Therapeutic Development Network since its founding in 1998.

Watch the taped greeting from Francis Collins to NACFC attendees: