Thomas Ferkol, MD
Director, Allergy and Pulmonary Medicine
Director, Cystic Fibrosis Center
St. Louis Children’s Hospital
- Oversees the Cystic Fibrosis Center at St. Louis Children’s Hospital, one of the largest CF centers in the country. The Center and affiliated programs specialize in caring for patients who have been evaluated for, or have undergone lung transplants
- Principal investigator on several National Institutes of Health (NIH) studies surrounding new treatments that slow the blockage of airways in CF patients.
- Director of the Pediatric Pulmonology Fellowship Training Program at St. Louis Children’s Hospital
- Associate professor of pediatrics, cell biology and physiology at Washington University School of Medicine
Notable Quotes from Dr. Ferkol
Dr. Ferkol on promising CF therapies:
“We are carefully studying how to intervene earlier in the progression of the disease.
Traditionally, doctors were dealing with the ‘downstream’ effects of the disease – like how to make breathing easier – once the disease has already spread and taken hold. Now, researchers are in a position to attach therapies at the gene, or the protein level, to keep the lung’s chloride channels functioning before mucus forms and clogs airways.”
Dr. Ferkol on the advancements in CF treatment and his life mission to push the life expectancy of children with CF “off the map:
“In the 1950s, the life expectancy for CF was about five years old. By the 1970s, it had increased to 16 to 18 years of age. Today, the average life expectancy is about 34 years. I tell the parents of my new patients that I’m going to dance at their children’s weddings.”
Dr. Ferkol on the importance of maintaining CF treatments:
“Cystic fibrosis can sneak up on you,” Dr. Ferkol says. “You may not realize that pulmonary function has begun to decline, and it can reach a point where you can’t regain lost lung function. When patients are doing very well, there is a natural tendency to relax the therapies prescribed for CF and not be as aggressive as recommended. Even in kids who seem healthy, the effects on the pulmonary and nutritional deficits are still occurring.”