Research Awardees

Current CFRI-Funded Cystic Fibrosis Researchers

2024 – 2026

Elizabeth Nash Memorial Fellowship Program

 

Steven Jonas, MD, PhD, Principal Investigator
Ruby Sims, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow
University of California Los Angeles
Designing a cystic fibrosis gene therapy nanocarrier platform to target and modify airway stem cell-derived ionocytes

 

Ron Kopito, PhD, Principal Investigator
Celeste Riepe, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow
Stanford University
Pharmacogenomic discovery of therapeutic targets for corrector-resistant cystic fibrosis

 

New Horizons Program

 

Daria Van Tyne, PhD, Principal Investigator
University of Pittsburgh
Optimization of activity and improved delivery of bacteriophages targeting Burkholderia spp

 

 

Feng Yuan, PhD, Principal Investigator
University of Iowa
Dissecting Pulmonary ionocyte subtypes and their functional roles in cystic fibrosis

 

2023 – 2025

Elizabeth Nash Memorial Fellowship Program

 

Matthew Porteus, MD, PhD, Principal Investigator
Anais Amaya Colina, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow
Stanford University
A Hybrid Gene Correction Strategy for Cystic Fibrosis

 

New Horizons Program

 

Nadia Ameen, MD, Principal Investigator
Yale University School of Medicine
Elucidating the ion transport functions of CFTR High Expresser Cells (CHEs) and its relevance to intestinal disease in Cystic Fibrosis (CF)

 

 

Benjamin Chan, PhD, Principal Investigator
Yale University School of Medicine
Optimization of Phage Therapy to Reduce Pseudomonas-Induced Inflammation in Cystic Fibrosis

 

 

Katrine Whiteson, PhD, Principal Investigator
University of California Irvine
Targeting recalcitrant CF pathogens with phages, antibiotics, and small molecule adjuvants

 

 

Special Circumstances Grant

 

Beate Illek, PhD, Principal Investigator
University of California San Diego
CFTR mRNA delivery to CF airways

 

 

 

2022 – 2024

Elizabeth Nash Memorial Fellowship Program

 

Paul Bollyky, MD, PhD

Paul Bollyky, MD, PhD, Principal Investigator
Kevin Qingquan Chen, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow
Stanford University
Targeting Bacterial Resistance to Phage Therapy in Cystic Fibrosis

 

New Horizons Program

 

Carlos Milla, MD Carlos Milla, MD, Principal Investigator
Stanford University
Improving CF Airway Mucociliary Clearance: Toward Transition from Animals to Humans

 

 

Kenichi Okuda, MD, PhD

Kenichi Okuda, MD, PhD, Principal Investigator
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Pathways Maintaining Basal Mucin and CFTR-mediated Fluid Secretion in the Human Distal Airway

 

 

Zachary M. Sellers, MD, PhD

Zachary Sellers, MD, PhD, Principal Investigator
Stanford University
Targeting IRBIT to Correct Bicarbonate Secretory Defects in Cystic Fibrosis