Columns

This past Saturday, Fedex brought a small unassuming box to the porch of my home. It didn’t take me long to open it and find Vertex’s newest drug, Orkambi, wrapped in its white and lime green colored box. Inside lay foil wrapped pills neatly labelled Sunday through Monday to…

On Thursday, July 2, the Food and Drug Administration made the announcement that Orkambi had been approved for people with cystic fibrosis who are age twelve and older with two copies of the F508del mutation. The announcement was followed by a swirling of excitement through the CF community and…

My last four articles have highlighted various stem cell types and their potential therapeutic application for those with cystic fibrosis (CF). However, the next logical question to ask is how exactly does cell therapy work? Stem cell therapy in CF is a hot topic for discussion, so I find it…

There are strains of mice in the lab that can run for what seems an endless amount of time. If I happened to be a mouse in a lab I would not be that mouse. My life has been peppered with periods when I have been physically active with sports…

Cystic fibrosis is a complex genetic disease that slowly takes the breath of those who have it by eroding the function of their lungs over time. At the core of this erosion is a diverse community of bacteria competing to assert dominance in the lung, inflicting chronic exacerbations that need…

Cystic Fibrosis is not a disease new to modern history. It is speculated that people have died from the disease for hundreds if not thousands of years. If cystic fibrosis, which is terminal in the majority of patients, is in fact thousands of years old, how then has it persisted…

My past few articles have touched upon the application of stem cells for the treatment of cystic fibrosis (CF), and while some of these treatments demonstrate great promise for the future of CF, it is important to establish more necessary discourse. With my past articles discussing Embryonic Stem Cells (ESCs),…

The CF community waits with warm hearts and open arms for the approval of ORKAMBI, the combination drug by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, slated to be approved next month on July 5. The excitement is well deserved because it is the first time that those with CF who have two copies of…

The selection of articles I chose for this week is an attempt to capture recent events, along with one older article, showcasing the range of articles relating to the science and increased awareness being brought to the CF community ‘Salty Girls’ photo Series Challenges Notions of Beauty and Cystic Fibrosis…

My last two articles have highlighted how Embryonic Stem Cells (ESCs), Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs), and Gestational Stem Cells have shaped regenerative medicine research for patients with cystic fibrosis (CF). In order to further delve into the function of stem cells, various approaches must be taken to…