Profile for Marzena Krawiec

Marzena Parent of surf participant

• Wilmington, NC

From a very young age I knew that I wanted to be a pediatrician. I loved children and wanted to make a difference in there lives. I watched my younger sister's best friend struggle with CF - the chest physiotherapy and the extensive enzymes. She spent more time in the hospital than she did at home. I did not understand the disease fully until I was in medical school and learned and then watched her be flown to CHOP for a heart-lung transplant. Unfortunately, she did not survive to that day. It left a dramatic impact on my life. She was an amazing young girl, passing just 1 week before her 16th birthday. I was going to become a pediatrician and then a pediatric pulmonologist. I was trained by two of the leading thinkers/fathers of CF: Dr. Frank Accurso at Denver Children's and then with my first attending position at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, Dr. Phil Farrell. I was part of the CF team at the University of Wisconsin and CF was an area I held dear in my heart.

I moved to Wilmington NC due to my son's autism and needing the beach for healing and sensory support. It has been an incredibly positive move for us. I am able to care for children with many severe and chronic illnesses with Coastal Children's Services under the leadership of Dr. Fernando Moya. My goal is to establish a CF satellite center in Wilmington, NC so these young people do not need to travel 2 + hours for their care at a CF center.