Therapeutics Development Network for Cystic Fibrosis Clinical Research

Our faculty have been a part of the CF Therapeutics Development Network from the time of its founding in 1998 to the present, growing from 8 to 90 collaborative teams in its first decade. This initiative by the CF Foundation sought to establish research programs at accredited CF care centers (known as TDCs or Therapeutics Development Centers) to accelerate the testing of new, promising therapies brought forward by industry sponsors and academic investigators along with key observational and novel outcome measure research specific to CF.

Together with our partners in the Adult CF program we have participated in multiple multi-center clinical trials and observational studies. These have led to the development and approval of numerous therapies, such as inhaled antibiotics for CF (tobramycin solution for inhalation and Aztreonam inhalation solution),  human recombinant dornase alfa, and more recently breakthrough, CFTR modulator drugs. Participation in NIH and Foundation sponsored studies allowed us to demonstrate effective treatment to eradicate newly acquired Pseudomonas aeruginosa (and methicillin resistant Staph. aureus-MRSA), assess the impact of hypertonic saline inhalation in children, evaluate more sensitive measures of lung function and examine the clinical impact of new CFTR modulator drugs.