Understanding lung infection – Venture and Innovation Awards

Dr Anand Shah, Royal Brompton Hospital and Imperial College London

Our contribution: £38,000
Partner contribution: Medical Research Council, £247,350

The fungal infection Aspergillus fumigatus is becoming difficult and expensive to diagnose and more resistant to existing treatments. The aim of this research project is to improve the accuracy of diagnosing Aspergillus and to identify whether the infecting strain will be resistant to current drugs by developing a low-cost device that may be able to be used in hospitals in the future.

Professor Jane Davies, Imperial College London and Dr Collin Sones, University of Southampton

Our contribution: £90,000
Partner contribution: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), £786,000

Detecting what bugs people with CF are growing requires hospital tests and a few days before treatment can begin. Developing a dipstick-like test for to use at home would allow treatments to begin sooner. Currently the researchers are developing the test to detect infection with Pseudomonas aeruginosa or Burkholderia cepacia. They also aim to be able to identify which antibiotics the bugs are resistant to at the same time.

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Professor Chris van der Gast, Manchester Metropolitan University

Our contribution: £45,950
Partner contribution: Manchester Metropolitan University, £45,950  

Detecting what bugs people with CF are growing requires hospital tests and a few days before treatment can begin. Researchers in Manchester are aiming to develop a test that will identify which infections someone has within a few hours. They hope that if a sample is taken at the start of a clinic appointment, the results will be back by the end of the appointment.

Dr Mike Murphy, Owlstone Medical Limited, UK

Our funding: £36,000
Partners: Owlstone Medical and Royal Papworth Hospital, £108,000

Flare-ups of poor lung health (also known as exacerbations) can require weeks of in-patient hospital treatment and cause permanent lung damage. If they can be detected earlier, their impact can be reduced. Researchers will investigate whether changes in chemicals in the air that people with CF breathe out can be used as a way of detecting the start of an exacerbation. This is a proof of principle study.

Professor Miguel Camara, University of Nottingham, Co-director of National Biofilm Innovation Centre

Our contribution: £50,000
Partner contribution: University of Nottingham, £50,000

As the numbers of bacteria grow during Pseudomonas infection, the levels of chemicals it releases reach a tipping point. Once the tipping point is reached these chemicals, known as ‘quorum sensing molecules’, make Pseudomonas less easy to treat with antibiotics.

In this PhD research project, the student will develop tests for detecting quorum sensing molecules clinically and test if blocking their activity improves the effectiveness of existing antibiotics.

Dr Martin Welch, University of Cambridge

Our contribution: £33,000
Partner contribution: National Centre for the Replacement, Refinement and Reduction of Animals in Research, £210,000 

The lungs of people with CF contain a wide range infection-causing bacteria. In order to treat CF lung infections more effectively, it is important to understand how these bugs interact with each other.

A mix of all the different bugs found in the lungs will be modelled in the lab by a PhD student in Cambridge. The lab model will be used to study the effect of antibiotics on how these bugs interact. This will inform the best way to prescribe antibiotics, in order to maintain a healthy balance of good bacteria while treating the infection.

Read more about their recent findings

Dr Laura Nolan, Imperial College London

Our contribution: £30,000
Partner contribution: Imperial College London, £206,000

There may be a number of different infection-causing bacteria growing in the lungs of people with CF, but at different times of life, different bacteria become dominant. It isn’t understood what causes one bacteria to dominate others. Dr Laura Nolan has been awarded a fellowship to set up her own lab at Imperial College, and the Trust has awarded her some extra budget for consumables to allow her to progress this exciting area of research. Understanding more about how different infection-causing bacteria interact could lead to more effective treatments for these infections in the future.

Professor Jane Davies, Imperial College London

Our contribution: £30,000
Partner contribution: Cycle Pharmaceuticals, £30,000

When the multiple sclerosis (MS) drug glatiramer acetate (GA) was shown to have antibacterial effects against Pseudomonas, the Trust agreed to support Professor Davies and her biotech partner in exploring its potential further. This research funding is being used to investigate the Pseudomonas-strain-specific effects of GA in enhancing the effectiveness of existing, currently-used antibiotics.

Professor Jane Davies, Imperial College London

Our contribution: £50,000
Partner contribution: Helperby Therapeutics, £50,000 

One way to tackle antibiotic resistance is to develop drugs to make bacteria more susceptible to current antibiotics. Biotech company Helperby are working with researchers within one of our Pseudomonas Strategic Research Centres to test the drugs in their development pipeline against specific strains of Pseudomonas. If their research is successful these drugs could reduce the burden of care during infections and reduce long-term lung damage by clearing infections faster.

Neem Biotech, UK

Our contribution: £30,000
Partner contribution: Neem Biotech, £30,000 

We are providing support to researchers at the biotech company Neem to continue lab test on promising lead ‘would-be-drugs’ that work by increasing the effectiveness of current antibiotics against NTM bacteria.

Professor Chris van der Gast, Manchester Metropolitan University

Our contribution: £48,000
Partner contribution: Manchester Metropolitan University, £48,000 

Developing NTM infection can have devastating consequences for people with CF, leading to increased lung damage and a year-long course of antibiotics that may not work, and may reduce their chances of a successful lung transplant. More research is needed to rethink how NTM is treated. This research study will investigate how NTM infections develop alongside other bugs within the lung. The results will provide important new information to apply in the development of more effective treatments.

Professor Jane Davies, Imperial College London

Our contribution: £98,600
Partner contributions: Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), £500,000, Imperial College London, £50,000

Standard tests of lung function are not sensitive enough to pick up lung damage in young children (aged between two and six years old). Professor Davies is collaborating with researchers at the University of Oxford to develop a new, more sensitive version of the lung clearance index (LCI). Over three years, it will be tested in gradually younger people with cystic fibrosis. If successful it has the potential to distinguish between permanent lung damage (such has lung scarring) and temporary narrowing (caused by excess mucus).

Professor Alan Smyth, University of Nottingham

Our contribution: £35,000
Partner contributions: CF Foundation and Vertex Pharmaceuticals, £266,000

To understand the best way to treat GI tract complications, it’s important to understand how the gut functions normally, and how it’s different in cystic fibrosis. The current ways to study gut function involve passing tubes into the gut or the use of Xx-rays. Professor Smyth is investigating whether MRI is a safer and less invasive alternative to these methods. If successful, he will extend the study to look at whether taking the CFTR modifying drug Orkambi has any effect on GI movement.

Professor Chris van der Gast, Manchester Metropolitan University

Our contribution: £47,000
Partner contribution: Manchester Metropolitan University, £47,000

Everyone has a range of bugs living in their intestines that contribute to keeping them healthy. In people with CF it is likely that how these bugs live and grow is different compared to people who don’t have the condition. The aim of this PhD research is to gain a better understanding of how the natural bugs are affected in cystic fibrosis. This could lead to more effective management of GI symptoms of CF such as DIOS.

Dr Fred Piel, Imperial College London

Our contribution: £85,000
Partner contribution: Imperial College London, £85,000

More information is needed about how environmental factors affect cystic fibrosis. 

We are funding two PhD students to develop this information. They have access to many detailed environmental datasets that can be overlaid with information about cases of CF, to identify any links between them. The factors they’re investigating include air pollution and geographical patterns of lung infection. This information can be used in the future to develop lifestyle advice and to campaign for changes in practices to reduce these factors.

Dr Vivek Dua, Imperial College London

Our contribution: £50,000
Partner contribution: Imperial College London, £50,000

How easy it is to clear the lungs of mucus in CF is based on the physical properties of the liquid lining the lungs, known as the air surface liquid. These physical properties include how watery, sticky and stretchy it is. Computer modelling and machine-learning approaches will be used to calculate the physical properties of the most easy-to-clear mucus. These figures can be used to design new mucus-clearing drugs in the future.