Letter to the Community from Board Chair Catherine McLoud

To the CF Foundation Staff and CF Community: Today, after 35 years with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation -- and 21 years as president and CEO -- Robert J. Beall, Ph.D., has announced he is stepping down. 

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On behalf of the CF Foundation Board of Trustees, we could not be more grateful for Dr. Beall's leadership or more in awe of his accomplishments. When Dr. Beall joined the Foundation, the median predicted age of survival of a person with CF was 18. Today, it is more than 40 years.

It would be difficult to point to another nonprofit leader who has made such a dramatic difference in the lives of people with a particular disease, and nobody beats Dr. Beall's record of innovation and passionate commitment to our mission.

Dr. Beall's revolutionary approach to research set the Foundation on an entirely new path to understanding the science behind CF and discovering new therapies. His bold thinking and ability to recruit some of the best minds to the CF effort has led to innovative treatments that have greatly extended length of life and improved the quality of life for people with the disease.

Dr. Beall pioneered the Foundation's successful venture philanthropy model, which has been a game changer in CF research and drug development. He inspired our Research Development Program, a dynamic, interdisciplinary research network that laid the groundwork for the discovery of the CF gene in 1989. In 1997, he established the Foundation's Therapeutics Development Program, a unique coalition that has advanced CF drug development through a centralized network of clinical trials and alliances with biotech companies. This program has been responsible for a continuum of breakthrough treatments, including Kalydeco™ and the recently approved Orkambi™, both of which attack the underlying cause of the disease.

As we look to the future, I am pleased to announce that the Foundation will be in the capable and experienced hands of Preston W. Campbell, III, M.D., executive vice president of medical affairs. A CF trailblazer in his own right, Dr. Campbell joined the CF Foundation 17 years ago and has the expertise and vision to propel the organization forward in the years to come. He will become the next president and CEO of the Foundation by January 1, 2016. I am confident that Dr. Campbell will continue to further the Foundation's mission in both research and patient care in the coming years.

Dr. Campbell currently oversees the Foundation's research and drug discovery and development efforts; in addition, he directs our network of care centers, clinical trials program, and national patient registry database. A distinguished pediatric pulmonologist, Dr. Campbell has more than 25 years' experience providing direct clinical care to people with CF, most recently at Johns Hopkins CF Care Center and at Vanderbilt's CF Care Center, where he served as center director for many years. I know his extensive knowledge and compassion for people with CF and their families are at the heart of all he does.

Over the coming months, we will share more information about Dr. Beall's continued role in the Foundation, as well as ways that the Board and the community will honor and celebrate his extraordinary accomplishments. During this time of transition, our promise remains the same: we will work tirelessly to improve the lives of all people with CF while we search for a cure. Working together and building off the tremendous progress we have achieved, I know we will get there.

Sincerely,

Catherine (Cam) McLoud

Chair, Board of Trustees

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