ACFRT Top-up Scholarship 2017
Project Title: Does high intensity interval training improve fitness in people with cystic fibrosis?
Name: Abbey Sawyer
Institution: School of Physiotherapy and Exercise Science, Curtin University WA
Duration: 3 years
Value: $ 5,000
Summary: People with cystic fibrosis (CF) who are fitter have improved quality of life and may live longer.
Currently, people with CF are encourage to exercise for 30 to 60 minutes a day, in line with recommendations provided for people who are healthy. This is often difficult to achieve due to the high daily treatment burden and competing demands in life such as work, study and family.
This project will investigate whether 10 minutes of high intensity interval training over an 8-week period improves fitness and other important outcomes such as quality of life, mood, confidence to complete exercise and enjoyment in people with CF.
Reports: Final Report
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ACFRT Top-up Scholarship 2017
Project Title: Are altered carbohydrates associated with compromised immune cells in cystic fibrosis?
Name: Harry Tjondro
Institution: Department of Chemistry & Biomolecular Science – Macquarie University
Value: $ 5,000
Duration: 3 years
Summary: This project will for the first time use biochemistry to explore the aberrant carbohydrate signatures and their functional significance on CF neutrophils relative to healthy neutrophils, an important type of innate immune cells in CF.
Advancing our understanding of the structural and functional alterations of carbohydrates in CF neutrophils will be valuable in order to unravel the underlying disease mechanisms.
This study will generate valuable, fundamental biochemical knowledge to support the generation of new immune-based therapeutics to alleviate the disease burden of affected individuals.
Reports: Final Report
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ACFRT Top-up Scholarship 2017
Project Title: Pseudomonas aeruginosa behavior in cystic fibrosis: new insights using novel super-resolution microscopy.
Name: Simone Visser
Institution: Department of Respiratory Medicine – RPAH, NSW
Value: $ 5,000
Duration: 3 years
Summary: Pseudomonas aeruginosa and other emerging bacterial pathogens (multi-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, Achromobacter xylosoxidans, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia) establish chronic lung infections in patients with cystic fibrosis by forming biofilms in the airways.
Biofilms are adherent, slimy layers of bacteria, which are highly impermeable and resistant to antibiotic therapy, making treatment very challenging. It is well recognised that after development of chronic bacterial lung infections, patients experience deterioration in lung function, increased flare-ups and poorer survival. There is an urgent need to develop new effective treatments against bacteria and their biofilms.
Our group has found that innovative triple combination therapy (glutathione/DNase/antibiotic) is effective in reducing pseudomonas biofilms (Ashish Kumar et al, Frontiers in Microbiology 2017; 8:1-18). I am now expanding that work into the emerging CF pathogens, which are typically under-studied and include achromobacter, stenotrophomonas, and methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus. According to recent registry data, these bacterial species are increasingly common in CF patients. Further, chronic infection with these bacteria is linked with poorer lung health. I am investigating whether similar triple combination therapy is effective against the biofilms of these bacteria.
The ACFRT Grant has allowed me to begin investigating innovative combination antibacterial therapy to treat chronic lung infections in cystic fibrosis. The combination treatment targets bacterial biofilms (slimy layer), which is usually impenetrable and resistant to typical antibiotic therapies.
Reports: None due
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