Cystic Fibrosis Trust announces co-funding with Cystic Fibrosis Canada
The multi-year funding - awarded to Professor Lindsay Eltis of the University of British Columbia - looks to address a number of the research priorities people affected by cystic fibrosis identified. The study will look into preventing, and in the future treating Mycobacterium abscessus (M. abscessus) lung infections.
What is the research about?
Professor Eltis and colleagues recently discovered that M. abscessus needs cholesterol to grow in our cells. Without access to cholesterol the bugs are no longer able to grow and survive. They plan to use this knowledge to design new antibiotic medicines. This is an approach that has been successful for a bug related to M. abscessus.
What is M. abscessus?
People with cystic fibrosis are extremely vulnerable to lung infections, which can be hard to treat, hard to detect, and resistant to antimicrobial medicines. Over recent years there has been a global increase in the number of serious infections in people with cystic fibrosis caused by non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM).
The most common NTM to cause serious infection is M. abscessus, which is distantly related to tuberculosis and is usually found in the environment, particularly in water and soil.
The treatments for infections caused by M. abscessus last a long time – usually multiple months and can often have side effects such as nausea and fatigue. This is a big treatment burden for people with CF.
Why is research like this important?
Back when I was diagnosed in 2010 there wasn’t much information out there about NTM, but I was told it was very serious and things were going to change for me. I had to have three months of IVs and after a lot of complications, my lung collapsed. I felt very unlucky. Despite everything I did to get rid of it, the NTM was still there. It’s something I just have to live with, which is why I can’t put into words how important research is, improving the lives of those it effects massively.
Sara, who has cystic fibrosis and NTM
We are delighted to be co-funding this exciting research study with CF Canada. Collaborations like
Dr Lucy Allen, Director of Research and Healthcare Data
this are important to allow us to maximise the benefit of research to everyone with CF around the
world, and uses our funding to the greatest effect. More effective treatments for CF lung infections
are desperately needed, to prevent life-shortening permanent lung damage.
NTM infections are a global challenge in CF, and Cystic Fibrosis Canada is pleased to partner with the Cystic Fibrosis Trust to co-fund important discovery work in this area. We hope that this is the start of a closer collaboration between our two organizations to support impactful research for those with cystic fibrosis in Canada, the UK and around the world.
Dr. Paul Eckford, Chief Scientific Officer, Cystic Fibrosis Canada