Collaboration
Cystic Fibrosis Australia (CFA) works closely with government entities, health service providers, research groups, not-for-profit’s (NFP) in the health and chronic disease sectors, and overseas colleagues and foundations. Collaboration allows us to be smarter with our research, services, and clinical improvement programs but most importantly it delivers better outcomes more quickly for people with cystic fibrosis (CF).
We consistently and proactively encourage collaboration to ensure the best gains are achieved in the fastest time, knowledge is shared, breakthroughs are celebrated and funds are not wasted through duplication.
The Lung Health Alliance
CFA is an official member of The Lung Health Alliance.
The Lung Health Alliance is a collective of national respiratory NFP organisations working together to improve the lung health of individuals and communities in Australia.
The Lung Health Alliance also contributes to the global effort for lung health.
The following organisations are members of the Alliance:
- Asthma Australia
- Australian Respiratory Council
- National Asthma Council Australia
- The Australian Lung Foundation
- The Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ).
Alliance activities are managed and monitored by the Lung Health Alliance Chief Executive Officers’ Group.
The Alliance work includes securing support for world class respiratory research, improving patient outcomes and advancing the diagnosis, treatment and search for a cure for respiratory diseases.
The Thoracic Society of Australia & New Zealand (TSANZ)
CFA works closely with TSANZ to increase understanding surrounding lung diseases, particularly CF.
Collaboration between CFA & TSANZ is done with a joint commitment to prevent respiratory illness, improve clinical care and improve outcomes for people living with CF.
On sign-up, you may be asked for a Member Code – if so please enter “roses”.
Perx Health
Perx is an app that helps you simplify your daily health routine. Managing your medications and forming healthy habits can be tough but Perx helps by making it fun, easy, and rewarding to manage your medications and stick to your schedule.
CFA is proud to offer Perx to help people self-manage their condition and the ability to earn REAL rewards for doing so. It offers the ability to record your most important medical information, monitor progress against goals and keep track of all your appointments, prescription refills and history. It encourages those living with CF to feel empowered with their day-to-day management and improve their quality of life.
Perx is honored to work with CFA to provide support for day-to-day adherence and motivation to reduce disease burden and improve quality of life. We are proud to be able to offer the app completely FREE for people living with CF.
To find out more and to sign up for your free access: CLICK HERE
Please contact the Perx team at support@perxhealth.com if you have any additional questions or issues during sign-up.
Beat CF
BEAT CF is a little different from most of the trials you’ve heard about or been involved in before. BEAT CF is a platform study. The study aims to optimize the management of CF exacerbations and will start by collecting routine health data. After this data collection phase, BEAT CF researchers will be able to set up multiple trials of different treatments, at the same time, to find out which treatments work best and which people they work best for. The study is enrolling children, teens, and adults with CF around Australia and is being coordinated at the University of Sydney. BEAT CF is open to all people with CF unless you’ve had a lung transplant.
This video explains more about BEAT CF.
Visit beatcf.org.au to learn more and register your interest to participate.
You can also follow the study on Twitter to stay up to date with trial news including announcements of new CF centres involved in the study.
Research Surveys
As the peak national organisation representing individuals with cystic fibrosis, we actively engage in collaborations with research and educational institutions, providing support to advance their knowledge across all aspects of CF.
Explore the links below to discover ongoing studies and surveys conducted by external organizations. We encourage your participation in any that align with your interests. Your valuable feedback and input contribute to researchers gaining a deeper understanding, ultimately aiding in their efforts to support all conditions associated with cystic fibrosis.
Research Study Title: “Exploring the Acceptability of Organoid Technology Among Healthcare Professionals and Scientific Communities”
Researchers at UNSW are conducting a project regarding the acceptability of utilising organoids for personalised medicine amongst healthcare professionals and the scientific community.
Participants will be asked to complete the following research activities if they agree to participate:
- Watch a 1 minute explainer video
- Complete an online questionnaire that will take 15 minutes to complete.
Survey details are further outlined in the attached Participation Information Sheet, which contains a full description of the research activities, risks associated with these activities and any discomforts that you may experience during the research. If you would like to take part in this research, you can do so by selecting the following link: [http://bit.ly/AvatarAccep2] or contact the research team with any questions about the project.
SURVEY CLOSES END 2024
Share your experience of salt supplementation, hydration, sweat, and heart-related illness symptoms.
If you are a parent of a child aged 6 – 15 years old with a diagnosis of cystic fibrosis, please follow this link: Parent Link
If you are 16 years or older and have a diagnosis of cystic fibrosis, please follow this link: Patient Link
The survey is expected to take around 30 minutes to complete and can be accessed by CLICKING HERE
CONSUMER PARTICIPATION SOUGHT FOR A SURVEY ON ATTITUDES TO RESPIRATORY SAMPLE COLLECTION AND DVELOPMENT OF DIGITAL HEALTHCARE TECHNOLOGIES TO IMPROVE THEIR ANALYSIS
We are seeking adults living with respiratory disease and guardians of children living with respiratory disease to participate in a survey, which seeks to understand how analyses of cells in biological samples like sputum could be improved to benefit the clinical management of respiratory diseases.
We would great appreciate you taking approximately 10 minutes to complete the short, multiple-choice survey. Responses will gauge currently attitudes and identify major consumer themes to improve the use of respiratory samples and lead to better health outcomes.
LINK: https://redcap.telethonkids.org.au/redcap/surveys/?s=KDWT3H7N97DRX39X
This survey is completely anonymous. We will seek to publish survey data from this project within a respiratory journal.
Approval to conduct this research has been provided by the University of Western Australia, in accordance with its ethics review and approval procedures. If you would like to discuss any aspect of this study please feel free to contact Dr Luke Garratt at luke.garratt@uwa.edu.au.
Please share this invitation with anyone you know who may be interested in adding their voice.
Participant Information – Consumer
https://www.cysticfibrosis.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Consumer-ICF-and-Consent_04022024.pdf
Ethics Approval Letter
Study Title: Gut Research Advancing A Mechanistic and Personalised Understanding of Symptoms in Cystic Fibrosis (GRAMPUS-CF)
Exploring gut symptom ‘clusters’ in cystic fibrosis
Many people with CF experience tummy symptoms that affect their daily life. Despite the availability of new CF modulator treatments such as Kaftrio/Trikafta, CF gut problems persist in many people.
Not every person with CF experiences the same combination of GI symptoms, so it’s likely there are different mechanisms that cause different combinations. This is what we aim to study.
If we can identify these different ‘clusters’ of symptoms and the mechanisms behind each one, we can develop better, more personalised treatments for people with cystic fibrosis.
What do I have to do?
We would like you to complete some a few short questionnaires on symptoms and food intake, on three occasions, six months apart.
Questionnaire details are outlined in more detail on our website or via our Participant Information sheet.
Who can get involved?
Adults and children (aged 6-15 years) with CF.
People with CF anywhere in the world can get involved in group A remotely using our app.
Your participation will be helpful whether or not you have trouble with gut symptoms and whether or not you are taking one of the new CF modulator drugs.
Thank you for your support in driving individualised treatments for gut symptoms!