Cystic Fibrosis Trust pledge over £2m to address research priorities of people with CF

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Cystic Fibrosis Trust has awarded over £2m to fund four new research grants targeting key research priorities identified by people with cystic fibrosis (CF) – ranging from alternatives to current treatment to helping support people with CF as the population is getting older. 

Two new Strategic Research Centres (SRCs) have received funding. The first, ‘Novel lead compounds as potential suppressor drugs for CFTR Premature Termination Codon (PTC) mutations’ will be led by Dr Mike Gray at the University of Newcastle with an international collaboration of researchers based in Portugal, the Netherlands and Italy. The team will focus on designing compounds that could be CF medicines of the future. Many people, including those with rarer cystic fibrosis mutations, are unable to benefit from recent treatment developments such as the CFTR modulator Kaftrio, so this research is critical to address this. 

The second, ‘MATeRnal, InfAnt, Reproductive & Child Health in CF (MATRIARCH)’, will examine the impact of pregnancy, childbirth, and breastfeeding for those with CF. Access to modulators has increased the number of people with CF having children, and people with CF want to know more about the effects of modulators on areas of the body outside the lungs. This includes important decision-making regarding their reproductive health throughout women and girls’ lives. But currently little is known about the impact of these medicines during pregnancy and breastfeeding. This SRC will be led by Dr Imogen Felton and Professor Jane Davies of Royal Brompton Hospital and Imperial College in London.

I’m delighted that with these new grants, we are funding new and innovative research on the issues that matter most to people with cystic fibrosis. We couldn’t fund this research without the dedication and support from people with CF and their families, and we won’t stop until everyone can live without the limits imposed by CF.

Dr Lucy Allen, Director of Research and Healthcare data at Cystic Fibrosis Trust

Zoë Elliott, mum to twins with CF, and QuestionCF participant said: "It's great to see Cystic Fibrosis Trust investing in research that matters most to people with cystic fibrosis. The commencement of a SRC to look at the impact of pregnancy and beyond shows how much life has changed for the better for people with CF. And for those who haven’t been able to benefit from modulators it is fantastic to see the Trust put funding into research that aims to provide them with the same life opportunities."

The Trust has also funded two new Development Awards (DAs). The first, ‘Advanced Diagnostic Validation and Novel Clinical Evaluation across the CFTR spectrum (ADVANCE-CFTR)’ will investigate alternative ways of diagnosing people with cystic fibrosis who have rarer mutations. This research may also be able to predict whether modulator medicines could work for rare CF mutations. This DA will be led by Professor Nick Simmonds of Royal Brompton Hospital, part of Guy’s and St Thomas’s NHS Foundation Trust, and Imperial College London.

‘Investigating the Cardiovascular Health of people living with Cystic Fibrosis (ITCH-CF)’ will be led by Dr Freddy Frost from Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, and will focus on unanswered questions about growing older with CF, another research priority for the CF community. Focusing on heart disease, one study will look at whether full-body imaging scans could be used to assess future risk of heart disease. Another study within the project will examine existing health records for more information about risk.


Since 1964, we've supported people with cystic fibrosis to live longer, healthier lives -and we won’t stop until everyone can live without limits imposed by CF.  

Despite improvements in treatments, cystic fibrosis is still a cruel condition without a cure and there is still so much more to do to stop CF damaging and shortening lives. 

We need your help to make sure everyone with CF can live a life unlimited. 

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