About Us
How it began
The Elizabeth Nash Foundation was established in 2003 to honor the memory and continue the work of Elizabeth Nash who lost her battle with CF at the age of 32.
During her shortened life Liz earned a BS in Molecular Biology from the University of Rochester and a PhD in genetics at the University of Utah, conducted CF and heart disease research, served as a CF peer mentor, and chaired CFRI’s research advisory committee.
She also played the clarinet, became a diehard Utah Jazz fan, played chess with some of the best chessmasters in San Francisco, and skied whenever she could, even if it required carrying supplemental oxygen in her backpack.
Our founding investments - academic scholarships and support for Cystic Fibrosis Research Institutes’ Elizabeth Nash Memorial Fellows Program - were a natural reflection of her values and legacy.
A new name and expanded programs remember Elizabeth’s brother, Patrick
In 2025, the Elizabeth Nash Foundation was renamed the Elizabeth & Patrick Nash Foundation to honor Liz’s older brother Patrick who passed away in 2022 due to cancer secondary to his CF. Pat earned an undergraduate degree from Boston College and an MBA at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, married the love of his life, had a decade-long career in corporate finance at Intel, and at age 36 welcomed beloved twin children.
After he retired in 2005 to invest more time in both his family and maintaining his health, he devoted significant time and energy as a youth basketball coach, school board member, CF clinical trial participant, and trusted confidant and advisor to his many friends.
Pat became very active in the CF community during COVID when through the virtual connection he was having with his adult CF peers he began to recognize the breadth of challenges, outside of the core CF disease, faced by adults aging with CF. In 2021 he joined the CFRI CF Adult Advisory Committee and also began work to improve screening protocols for GI cancers in CF patients.
The Patrick Nash Fellows Program, and the associated CF research, are an important part of Pat’s legacy and expansion of our work to extend and enrich the lives of people with CF.
