90MD

JP Clancy is a renowned physician-scientist who has dedicated his career to the hope for a cure for cystic fibrosis (CF). As senior vice president for clinical research for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, he directs an international clinical trial network responsible for 17 FDA-approved therapies to date. A beloved colleague and mentor, Clancy is praised for his selflessness and compassion for patients, collaborators, and learners alike. 

Clancy first became involved in CF research as a medical student under the direction of Michael Welsh (74MD, 77R). 

“This was before the genetic cause of CF was identified,” Clancy remembers. “We knew at the time that something was wrong with how salt moved in cells in CF. We were looking at the biophysical characteristics. Then, during that year, the gene responsible for CF was cloned.” 

This breakthrough from a research team at the University of Michigan kicked off a period of rapid change in the CF research landscape. 

“I got to see science change before my eyes,” Clancy says. “I feel very fortunate to have been at the right place at the right time.” 

Over the course of residency training at the University of Virginia and fellowship at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, his interest in the biomechanics of the disease blossomed into a mission to serve CF patients through translational research. Among his contributions to the field was his work on CFTR (cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator) modulators.  CFTR is a protein that helps maintain the balance of salt and water on the surface of the lungs. When genetic mutations cause CFTR to malfunction, chloride becomes trapped in cells. As a result, the mucus covering lung cells becomes thick and sticky, leading to many of the symptoms associated with CF. 

“A modulator is a molecule that is able to bind to the CFTR and help get it in the right shape so it can do its job,” he says. “The idea is to develop a drug which can help those broken CFTR proteins responsible for CF work better." 

Through a partnership between the pharmaceutical company Vertex and the CF Foundation, Clancy joined a community of researchers that developed and standardized clinical trials for this new class of CF drugs. 

“For the very first drug that was designed for the G551D mutation, my job in the study was the analysis of the data,” he says. “I may have been the first person to know that these drugs were actually making the CFTR work because I was seeing results as they came in from across the country.” 

The research to which Clancy contributed ultimately resulted in two classes of drugs, which, when combined, have become the highly effective class of modulators used today. The work also deepened his relationship with the CF Foundation. He became the organization’s vice president for clinical research in 2018. 

“The CF Foundation’s idea was to de-risk early research for drug development as a way to bring CF on to companies’ radar screens,” he says. 

In his role, he oversees an international clinical trial network of more than 100 sites and serves as a mentor for junior physician-scientists in the field. 

“We've obviously had great success with modulators, and we're thrilled about that. But there's still about 10% of people who have CF who don't benefit from them,” Clancy says. “We’re now focused on how we bring these transformative CFTR-based therapies and ultimately a cure to all people with CF.”