The CF Trust is one of the leading investors in CF research in the world. Research funded addresses the serious symptoms and complications of the disease, which include infection, inflammation, malnutrition, liver failure and osteoporosis. It is vital for people with CF to remain as healthy as possible, both in the short term and to gain from the long-term benefits of gene therapy and other potential treatments. The CF Trust invests around £5 million each year in research. Around three quarters of this is for gene therapy research.There are two strands to our research funding: gene therapy and other medical research.

Gene therapy
Since the identification of the gene that causes CF in 1989, much time and money has been invested to discover a way to correct the basic genetic defect or add a healthy copy of the faulty gene. The UK CF Gene Therapy Consortium based in London, Edinburgh and Oxford have developed a gene therapy product, which they are putting through tests for safety and efficiency before multi-dose clinical trials. This is the first time anywhere in the world that CF gene therapy has been studied in this way.

We currently invest over £4 million each year in a programme of research into gene therapy to make it a clinical reality in the foreseeable future. Gene therapy aims to add a healthy copy of the faulty CF gene to the lung. The Cystic Fibrosis Trust has brought together 80 of the UK's leading scientists and clinicians to drive this research forward through the UK Cystic Fibrosis Gene Therapy Consortium. The scientists have developed a product, which they plan to put into a one year multi-dose clinical trial. It is estimated the product for the trial will cost at least £6 ½ million. A more precise figure will be known following a single dose pilot study, which began in 2009.

For more details on our gene therapy research, visit our gene therapy section.

Other Medical and Scientific research
We support research aimed at curing and treating the symptoms of CF and improving the lives of those living with the condition. We currently spend around £750,000 million a year on non-gene therapy research which will have important and/or imminent clinical benefit to those with Cystic Fibrosis. This ranges from areas such as drug therapies, inflammation, infection and other important concerns in Cystic Fibrosis.

For more details on our other research projects, visit our research section.