YY and team awarded MBI seed funding to study effectiveness of therapies in cystic fibrosis

Dr Hui Xin Ong (YY)

YY (Dr Hui Xin Ong) and her team at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research, The University of Sydney and Westmead Hospital were awarded $15,000 seed funding from the Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity (MBI) to study the role of ion supplementation on the effectiveness of cystic fibrosis drugs during routine therapy. The grant entitled “The Role of magnesium in the reduced efficacy of inhaled therapies for cystic fibrosis” was awarded through the Anti-Microbial Resistance (AMR) node of the MBI. YY and her team will use the funds to conduct a number of in vitro studies looking at the interplay between local ion concentration in the lungs and the effectiveness of common antibiotics and mucokinetic CF therapies. With these findings, the team hope to translate this into a clinical trial that may result in significant benefits for CF sufferers.

The Chief investigators on the grant were YY from the Respiratory Technology Group at the Woolcock (an applied cell biologist)  Dr Paul Robinson and A/Prof Hiran Selvadurai from The Children’s Hospital at Westmead (renowned experts in paediatric CF management), Prof Paul Young and A/Prof Daniela Traini (Respiratory Technology) and A/Prof Andrew Holmes at the School of Molecular Bioscience, University of Sydney (a microbial genomics expert). The Marie Bashir Institute for Infectious Diseases and Biosecurity (MBI) is committed to meeting the challenge of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. You can learn more about the MBI here