During more than three decades of her career in pediatric pulmonology, Susanna McColley, MD, has seen the average life expectancy for children with cystic fibrosis advance from teenage years to mid-50s. In this episode, Dr. McColley details the evolution of cystic fibrosis diagnosis and treatment and discusses how she is addressing the ongoing disparities in CF research, education, and care.

Genetic testing has been transformative in many areas of pediatrics, such as diagnosing rare conditions and syndromes. But in other cases, such as the processing of immigrants at the border or of children separated from families during war, genetic testing and the collection of biometric data in children can lead to an overreach of the government or law enforcement in criminal or humanitarian cases. Sara Huston, MS, Principal Investigator of the Genetics and Justice Laboratory at the Stanley Manne Research Institute, is an expert in genetic testing and the legal and ethical questions that often arise with its application in medicine and law enforcement. In this episode she discusses her research and current events where genetic testing could potentially help or harm families.

In this episode, we explore how family dynamics can influence child health outcomes, specifically the impact that fathers can have on their children's health and development and the importance of including fathers in public health data collection, with guest Dr. Craig Garfield. Dr. Garfield leads the Family and Child Health Innovations Program (FCHIP) which is housed at Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and is part of the Mary Ann & J. Milburn Smith Child Health Outcomes, Research and Evaluation Center.