Emory University in Atlanta has announced a $1.8 million grant from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to establish a new research and development program.

The four-year grant will enable the university and its partner institutions — Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and the Georgia Institute of Technology — to expand the work of their current CF research programs. The goal of the new Atlanta CF Research and Development Program will be to promote interdisciplinary research into the biological mechanisms of CF and translate new knowledge into therapies for the life-shortening disease. To that end, the program's scientists, physician-scientists, and engineers will use state-of-the-art approaches to study patients, clinical samples, and animal models of CF/CFRD (cystic fibrosis-related diabetes) to identify changes in airway function that accompany disease progression, as well as test hypotheses about the disease and possible new treatments.

"This is a very important success for Atlanta's CF research and clinical community," said Nael McCarty, Ph.D., Marcus Professor of Cystic Fibrosis at the Emory University School of Medicine. "Being recognized by the CF Foundation reflects years of effort to improve the quality of our long-standing clinical program, the major advances we have made since 2007 in building a world-class research team and doing important science, and our establishment of innovative educational programs that will ensure that this progress continues. We are very grateful for the institutional support and the support from our local community that has enabled us to establish and improve our program."