Along with investing in gene therapy, the Cystic Fibrosis Trust remains committed to funding high quality research that could have important and/or imminent benefit for those with Cystic Fibrosis.

In the last financial year, £742,000 was spent on medical research on projects recommended to the Trustees by the Research Advisory Committee - our body of eminent scientists and clinicians and representatives of the adult CF community and parents.

Amongst the 13 projects funded were three studies into various aspects of CFTR, which is the protein made by the gene that in CF
prevents the proper movement of salts and water through the body. There were also two projects investigating inflammation in the lungs and another studying new ways of clearing the airways of mucus.

We funded four projects looking at infections in CF such as Pseudomonas and Cepacia and the UK CF Microbiology Consortium continued its lottery funded work in this area.These related programmes will help to provide early identification and treatment regimes for CF 'bugs' .

Other areas of funding included drug treatments for specific CF mutations, lung function studies and the Cochrane Library that assesses the evidence for various treatments.

In collaboration with CF centres and clinics, the CF Trust began work to create a new clinical database of people with Cystic Fibrosis.This valuable resource will allow clinicians access to information about the health of their patients with CF nationally and help promote best practice in NHS care.

For full information on CF Trust funded projects, download our Research Grants document.