Research Triangle Park, NC – (December 10, 2020) Rho’s Alex Padgett, associate director of Business Development, was honored on November 20 during the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation’s (CFF) annual “Brewer’s Ball Celebrating Triangle’s Finest” event. This year’s event took place virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Padgett was one of six honorees recognized by Triangle’s Finest, a program for Triangle-area young professionals committed to professional development and personal growth through fundraising and awareness. Triangle’s Finest honorees are selected based on a display of strong leadership qualities, active presence in their communities and noted accomplishments in their chosen professions. Padgett raised over $3,700 for CFF to help realize its mission of controlling and curing cystic fibrosis (CF).

“I am excited to be recognized among Triangle’s Finest honorees this year,” said Padgett. “I’m proud to be a part of the Rho team, where I can support cutting-edge clinical trials for new gene therapies and other groundbreaking treatments that could help, or potentially cure, all CF patients.”

Padgett first learned about cystic fibrosis (CF) during the genetics section of his AP Biology class in high school. His teacher had a daughter, one of Padgett’s classmates, with the disease. That teacher’s personal experience with CF inspired Padgett to major in genetics at Clemson University, which later led to his academic research at Duke University School of Medicine in the Duke Molecular Physiology Institute and work in molecular genetics at LabCorp. During his time at LabCorp, Padgett specialized in prenatal cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) genomic sequencing, where he analyzed DNA extracted from amniotic fluid or chorionic villi and searched the genes for CF-related mutations. These results increased early awareness among families and doctors of the mutations found in affected babies and helped them utilize treatments for their unique cases.

“I have a longtime friend with cystic fibrosis who recently shared with me that he is in a small portion of the CF population with rare homozygous nonsense mutations,” said Padgett. “This was absolutely earth-shattering to hear, and it brought home how important continued research is to finding a cure.”

Padgett is an active member of the CFF program “Tomorrow’s Leaders,” which focuses on professional development for young leaders and fundraising opportunities for CF research.

For more information or to donate to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, please visit https://www.cff.org/Raleigh/. To learn more about Rho, please visit www.rhoworld.com.

 About Rho

Rho, a privately held contract research organization (CRO) located in NC’s Research Triangle Park, provides a full range of drug development services from program strategy through clinical trials and marketing applications. For more than 35 years, Rho has been a trusted partner to some of the industry’s most innovative pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical device companies, as well as academic and government organizations. Rho’s cross-functional collaborative approach, therapeutic expertise, and commitment to strong site relationships changes what it means to work with a CRO – ultimately accelerating time to market, maximizing returns on investment, and ensuring a consistent program that runs smarter and more efficiently. Experience Rho by following us on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.