Precision-CF Innovation Hub

Polymicrobial Infections - Biomarkers, Diagnostics & Mechanisms

 

Precision-CF-logo

In a nutshell:

The Precision-CF Innovation Hub, led by Professor Jane Davies and Professor Darius Armstrong-James at Imperial College London, aims to improve the detection, diagnosis and treatment plans of lung infections in people with CF. They will do this by better understanding the relationships between co-infecting organisms in the lung and their impacts on the host, as well as exploring the development of new, acceptable tests for CF lung infections using a range of sample types.

What’s the problem?

Lung infections are a significant complication of CF, but accurate diagnosis is more difficult as improved health, in particular with CFTR modulators, leads to less sputum being coughed up. 

Rather than designing treatments based on one infecting bug, the mix of different types of bacteria and fungi in the lungs of people with CF may affect the way the body responds to treatment. For example, how effective treatments are and, ultimately, how much damage is caused.


How is it being solved?

The Precision-CF Innovation Hub will compare different ways to detect and diagnose infections, including using different types of samples. They will also use new innovative techniques to understand the interactions between various infecting bugs, and the interactions between the bugs and the body’s immune system to design more effective treatments in the future. 

Workstream 1: Understanding the neighbours

This workstream will explore in detail how different common bugs found in the CF lung – including the pathogens Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and Aspergillus fumigatus – survive, compete and co-exist. The goal is to understand how these bugs survive, interact and affect lung health, to help find new ways to detect infections and develop better treatments. 

Workstream 2: Managing home defences

In this workstream, the Precision-CF team will develop and use different specialised laboratory models of CF lung infection to investigate how the body’s defence system (in medical terms - inflammation and the immune system) responds to multiple lung infections at once. This will help researchers understand how infections affect the body, and find signs (biomarkers) that can be used to detect and study these infections better.

Workstream 3: Partnering to improve detection and diagnosis

The team will bring on board ‘Precision Partners’, a large group of people with CF of all ages who will provide a range of samples, including breath, blood, urine, saliva and skin swabs. The team will use these samples to help develop accurate, acceptable tests for CF infections and the risks they pose.


How will this make a difference?

Precision-CF hopes to improve infection-related outcomes for individuals with CF and help bring us closer to having new and more effective clinical tests for CF lung infections – especially for people who don’t cough up sputum.

  • Who's involved?

    Innovation Hub Director

    • Professor Jane Davies, Imperial College London

    Co-Director

    • Professor Darius Armstrong-James, Imperial College London

    Innovation Hub Project Manager
    Co-Investigators

    • Dr Luke Allsopp, Imperial College London

    • Dr Dominic Hughes, Imperial College London

    • Dr Kazuhiro Ito, Imperial College London

    • Professor Miriam Moffatt, Imperial College London

    • Professor William Cookson, Imperial College London

    • Dr Tamas Korcsmaros, Imperial College London

    • Professor Salman Siddiqui, Imperial College London

    • Dr Julian Forton, Cardiff University

    • Professor Miguel Camara, University of Nottingham

    • Professor Helen Barr, University of Nottingham

    • Professor Tracy Palmer, Newcastle University

    • Professor Anke-Hilse Maitland van der Zee, Amsterdam University

    • Dr Paul Brinkman, Amsterdam University

    • Professor Susan Birket, University of Alabama

    • Claire Guest, Medical Detection Dogs

    • Dr Imogen Jones, Royal Brompton Hospital

    • Dr Andrew Jones, Royal Brompton Hospital

    • Dr John King, Royal Brompton Hospital

    • Dr Rishi Pabary, Royal Brompton Hospital

    • Dr Malcolm Brodlie, Newcastle University

    • Dr Iram Haq, Newcastle University

    • Professor Robert Gray, University of Glasgow

  • Updates

    Check back here for future updates on the Precision-CF programme.

  • Resources and links

    Check back here in future for additional resources on the Precision-CF programme.

Improving the diagnosis and treatment of CF lung infections

We’re funding research to find better ways to diagnose and treat lung infections, tackle antimicrobial resistance, and stop CF disrupting lives.

Learn more

Research Noticeboard

Full of useful reminders of grant deadlines, conferences and workshops, this is a CF researcher’s go-to page for important information to progress their research. 

Find out more

Research support offer

If you are an innovator, our Research support offer can support you at every stage of your CF research pipeline. Click to find out more.

Learn more