Investigators: Andre Schultz, Graham Hall, Lidija Turkovic, Stephen Stick, Tim Rosenow, Alana Harper, Grace Pettigrew, Sally McCappin
External collaborators: Conor Murray (Perth Children's Hospital), Sarath Ranganathan (Murdoch Children's Research Institute), Fiona Ramanauskas (Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne), Susan Sawyer (Murdoch Children's Research Institute)
Care of children with cystic fibrosis (CF) has improved but during adolescence, lung function declines significantly. As people with CF die from respiratory failure, stopping this lung function decline is critical to improving survival for those affected. Our team has identified that lung damage occurs much earlier than previously and if we show this is related to the decline that occurs later, treatment for CF will change to prevent or limit the early changes identified in pre-school children.