Is the March of Dimes conducting research on CF?
March of Dimes research grantees are conducting studies aimed at improving the understanding of the basic cellular defects in CF as a basis for developing improved treatments. • One grantee is seeking to learn how abnormalities in lung stem cells (unspecialized cells that produce other lung cells) contribute to lung damage in CF. The goal of this research is to develop drugs that could stimulate an individuals own stem cells to repair lung damage. • Another grantee is studying a gene that plays a role in lung growth to learn how to better promote lung growth following lung transplantation for CF. Other researchers, not associated with the March of Dimes, continue to develop and test new drugs that aim to prevent or treat infections in those with CF, as well as drugs that may help correct the basic defect in lung cells.
