As a 40-year-old who lives with cystic fibrosis (CF), Zachary Schulz, PhD, EdS, MPH, is said to be among the reputed “last generation” of patients — those born before the advent of drugs that target the disease’s underlying genetic defect. The moniker has led him to wonder if it’s become just as difficult for clinicians to characterize this patient cohort as it has been to help people survive the challenging diagnosis. “It’s nonsense. We’re supposed to be dead,” said Schulz, a senior lecturer of history at Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama, who teaches health humanities and holds a master’s in public health, which lends to his unique perspective as a patient and student of the chronic condition. “We’re discovering that the pediatric lung disease we were born with is now becoming this ‘wei

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