Welcome to the team

MECFA welcomes Dr. Susanna A. McColley to our team to lead the MECFA Diagnostic Program.

Susanna A. McColley, MD is Associate Chief Research Officer for Clinical Trials and Director of Clinical and Translational Research at Stanley Manne Children’s Research Institute, Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago.

She is Associate Director for Child Health at the Northwestern University Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute, where she also directs a training program in child health for physicians fellows and engineers in postdoctoral training.

A practicing pediatric pulmonologist, she is a Professor of Pediatrics at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. A graduate of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, she completed her pediatric residency and fellowship in pediatric pulmonology at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. She served as Head of the Division of Pulmonary Medicine, Director of the Cystic Fibrosis Center, and Associate Chair for Clinical Affairs at Lurie Children’s prior to assuming her current position.

Her research interests include developing new therapies for cystic fibrosis, characterizing and treating early lung disease in infants and young children with cystic fibrosis, and reducing health disparities. She is active in healthcare quality improvement at the practice and national level.

She has held numerous leadership roles in the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, including serving as Chair of its Center Committee, co-chair of the North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference, and participating in the development of numerous practice guidelines. She is currently the Vice-Chair of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Newborn Screening Quality Improvement Consortium. She has also had many leadership roles in the American Thoracic Society and the American Academy of Pediatrics. She has received the Breath of Life Award from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation and two Presidential Commendations from the ATS.

Dr. McColley will lead a CF Diagnostic workshop at the upcoming 4th Middle East CF Conference and assist in evaluating the MECFA pilot diagnostic program.