Planting the seeds of progress: $325,000 for innovative cystic fibrosis research

TORONTO (February 25, 2024) – What if the next breakthrough in cystic fibrosis is already within reach – because of the research taking place today? 

This possibility is at the core of Cystic Fibrosis Canada’s latest investment of $325,000 in seven innovative early-stage research projects, made possible because of donor support. With a focus on advancing the greatest health-related needs of Canada’s cystic fibrosis community, the projects include Cystic Fibrosis Canada’s first-ever clinical trial planning grant that gives the CF community the opportunity to be part of research they stand to benefit from. 

While breakthrough therapies have made daily life better for many people with cystic fibrosis, it remains a serious, life-limiting disease. Too many people still face a significant daily treatment burden, ongoing complications, and gaps in care that current therapies do not yet resolve. 

This latest investment is about encouraging out-of-the-box thinking and testing new ideas. With a focus on projects that have shorter timelines and smaller budgets, Cystic Fibrosis Canada’s seed grants help researchers explore promising new directions and generate the evidence needed to pursue larger-scale studies and clinical impact. 

The seven initiatives being funded include a first for Cystic Fibrosis Canada – a grant that will bring together researchers, clinicians, and people with CF to plan a clinical trial.  

“The significant progress in CF we’ve made is tremendous, but it has given rise to new challenges that there simply aren’t answers for yet,” says Dr. Paul Eckford, Chief Scientific Officer at Cystic Fibrosis Canada. “Our first-ever clinical trial planning grant may help pave the way for better understanding of the mental and emotional side effects of CFTR modulator therapies, with the goal of improving care in an area with gaps in knowledge.” 

Recipients of Cystic Fibrosis Canada’s 2025 seed grants are listed below. Cystic Fibrosis Canada is pleased to partner with the Canadian Cancer Society and Diabetes Canada to fund two of these grants – strategic collaborations that help our donor dollars to go further and enable researchers to explore connections between cystic fibrosis and other health conditions.  

Together, these projects reflect the CF community’s determination to keep moving forward – and the vital role donors play in accelerating what comes next. 

• Defining the contribution of immune cells to CFRD 
  Sylvie Lesage, CIUSSS de l'Est de l’Ile de Montréal 
  Co-funded with Diabetes Canada 
  
  How could this research help? 
  Cystic fibrosis affects far more than the lungs. The pancreas is also commonly damaged, and over time this can lead to cystic fibrosis-related diabetes (CFRD). If not properly managed, CFRD can have serious health consequences. Research has shown that the pancreas of people living with CF contains high levels of immune cells, which contribute to inflammation and the loss of insulin-producing beta cells, a key cause of diabetes. This grant will help clarify how CFTR mutations may drive this inflammatory process, with the goal of identifying new strategies to treat CFRD, which affects more than 30% of adults in Canada living with CF.

• Development of Synthetic Chloride Channels and Transporters using Main group Supramolecular Interactions 
  Lucia Lee, Queen's University at Kingston  
  
  How could this research help? 
  People with CF lack the healthy proteins needed to transport salt (chloride ions) in and out of their cells, leading the mucus in their lungs and gut to become thick and sticky and affecting breathing and digestion. Some therapies can help to address this, but they often have side effects – and do not work for everyone with CF. With this grant, the research team will develop and test new ways that salt transfer in and out of cells could be fully restored. This work could provide a foundation for developing treatments that could help anyone with CF – regardless of underlying genetic mutation – to better digest food and breathe more easily.   

• Exploring the fetal origins of cystic fibrosis lung disease  
  Amy Wong, The Hospital for Sick Children 
  
  How could this research help? 
  While CF symptoms usually appear after birth, some research suggests that the lungs can be affected before a baby is even born. With this grant, the research team will create models of lung tissue that act like developing lung cells to understand how they are affected by CF and which genes and biological reactions are involved. This work aims to identify how and when lung development goes off track in CF, which could make it possible to diagnose CF earlier or even develop treatments that stop CF before it starts. 

• Identifying novel therapies to treat persistent P. aeruginosa infection in people with CF on CFTR modulators  
  Valerie Waters, The Hospital for Sick Children 
  
  How could this research help? 
  A type of bacteria called pseudomonas aeruginosa can cause chronic lung infections common in people with cystic fibrosis. When these bacteria stick together in clumps, they become harder for antibiotics to kill, which can lead to lung damage. By using samples of patient saliva and samples of patient p. aeruginosa bacteria, the research team will look at whether a lab-developed enzyme can break down the bacteria clumps allowing the antibiotics to do their work.  The team will also determine which combinations of enzymes and antibiotics together are most effective in doing so. As of 2024, p. aeruginosa infections were one of the two most common lung infections. With this information, future clinical trials could be conducted with the goal of reducing the severity of – or even eliminating altogether – p. aeruginosa infections in people with CF including those who are taking CFTR modulator therapy. 

• Self-testing for Female HPV Epidemiology in Cystic Fibrosis (SAFE-CF) 
  Ranjani Somayaji, University of Calgary 
  Funded by the support of the Canadian Cancer Society 
  
  How could this research help? 
  As people with CF live longer, healthier lives, diseases of aging – like cancer – become a greater risk. While cervical cancer can be prevented by being vaccinated against the human papillomavirus (HPV) that causes it, research has found that women with cystic fibrosis have low vaccination rates and higher rates of high-risk HPV infections and complications -- especially if they’ve had lung transplants. By providing women who have CF with a HPV test they can do at home and gathering data about infection rates, the research team aims to learn more about HPV infection risk in this population while making HPV screening more accessible. 

• A Generalizable CRISPR-Based Strategy to Defeat Drug-Resistant Pseudomonas aeruginosa in Cystic Fibrosis Patients 
  Isaac Martin, The Hospital for Sick Children 
  
  How could this research help? 
  New therapies that have dramatically changed the CF story for many have not solved the damage caused by pseudomonas aeruginosa infections. Often resistant to antibiotics, they can lead to lung damage, hospitalization, and even death. Fortunately, research has advanced to a point where p. aeruginosa samples can be manipulated in the lab, making them more responsive to antibiotics and even causing them to self-destruct. That’s what the research team leading this project will be trying to do, using samples of p. aeruginosa from the lungs of CF patients.If they are successful, this work could provide a promising avenue for the development of novel treatments that could lessen the threat of p. aeruginosa infections. 

• Quantifying the neurocognitive impacts of elexacaftor/tezacaftor/ivacaftor  
  Jonathan Rayment, University of British Columbia  
  
  How could this research help? 
  CFTR modulator therapies have transformed life for many people with CF, but side effects are common. Some people report mental or emotional side effects like brain fog, anxiety, and sleep disturbances that are sometimes so significant that treatment is discontinued. Despite this, no studies have taken place to measure, understand, or investigate these side effects. This research – which represents the first seed grant Cystic Fibrosis Canada has funded for the planning of a clinical trial – aims to address that gap in knowledge. Working with the CF community, the research team will develop an approach to measuring cognitive and emotional changes in people taking CFTR modulator therapies so that patterns can be identified. This lays the groundwork for a future clinical trial that could help CF care to keep pace with the needs of the CF community.