The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation hosted its 40th annual North American CF Conference in Atlanta from October 7-10, 2026.
The 40th North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference (NACFC) brought the CF community together in Atlanta from October and online to learn, collaborate, and connect on issues around a central question: What will it take to continue transforming life with CF?
Across 289 sessions, thousands of researchers, clinicians, and members of the CF community explored a wide range of topics related to living with, caring for, and researching CF.
“Our focus is on setting our eyes on the challenges and extraordinary opportunities ahead,” said Cystic Fibrosis Foundation President and CEO Michael P. Boyle, MD, as he kicked off the conference. Three main-stage plenaries examined opportunities to turn scientific progress into meaningful advances for people living with CF in areas including: gene editing and therapy delivery, integrating clinical research into CF care conversations, and liver health.
Gene Editing and Personalized Medicine
The first plenary looked at gene editing therapies, which aim to fix a genetic disease’s cause at the DNA level. They offer the best hope for providing a lasting — and potentially curative — treatment for any person with cystic fibrosis.
As Steven M. Rowe, MD, MSPH, executive vice president and chief scientific officer of the CF Foundation said in his opening remarks, “The question is no longer whether gene editing can work. The question is how we bring its potential to people with CF who remain in need.”
Speakers Kiran Musunuru, MD, PhD, of the University of Pennsylvania, and James Dahlman, PhD, of Emory University, talked about gene editing from different perspectives. Dr. Musunuru discussed his experience helping develop the groundbreaking personalized gene editing treatment for Baby KJ, who was born with a rare genetic liver disease and was treated just months after diagnosis. He explained what the case shows about precision medicine and its potential application to CF.
Dr. Dahlman then described the work underway to deliver genetic therapies to the lungs, where CF causes the most damage. The lungs are one of the most challenging organs in which to deliver a therapy, but Dr. Dahlman described how he and his lab are conducting new research that may help answer key delivery questions.
Making Research Part of Everyday CF Care
The second plenary explored why and how clinicians should make clinical research discussions a routine part of care, giving people with CF the opportunity to make the choice whether to participate. Cori L. Daines, MD, of the University of Arizona, and Dan Dorgan, MD, of University of Pennsylvania, explained that people with CF want to hear about clinical research directly from their care teams.
The speakers highlighted that conversations with trusted clinicians can make studies easier for patients to learn about and join. Dr. Dorgan began the plenary by highlighting the range of specific studies in progress that need people with CF to participate. Dr. Daines shared information about available clinical trial tools and ways to address barriers to having conversations about research.
A Closer Look at Liver Health Across the Lifespan
“CF care, now more than ever, requires us to think about the whole person across the lifespan and through multiple organ systems,” said A. Whitney Brown, MD, vice president of clinical affairs at the CF Foundation, as she introduced the third plenary. As people with CF live longer and their health needs evolve, understanding and treating complications beyond the lungs — including liver disease — is becoming increasingly important.
Plenary 3 presenter Michael Narkewicz, MD, of the University of Colorado, reviewed what researchers know about why liver disease develops in people with CF and how it shows up at different ages. He also covered recent progress in predicting who is most at risk, exploring new therapies, and improving care for people with CF who have liver disease.
Looking Ahead
Together, the plenaries offered a look at what it will take to keep transforming life with CF and how progress will depend on connecting scientific innovation with the needs and experiences of people with CF.
“What happens at this conference matters only because of what happens after this conference. The ideas shared over the last few days are going to spark new thinking and new approaches,” said Dr. Boyle as he closed the event. “These challenges that right now seem front and center are the ones that are going to be tomorrow’s breakthroughs.”
Recordings of select sessions will be made available on the CF Foundation YouTube channel in November.
The 41st NACFC will be hosted November 3-6, 2027, in San Antonio.
Source: Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
