Cystic fibrosis program recognized at conference

The WVU Medicine-WVU Hospitals Mountain State Cystic Fibrosis Center was ranked as one of the Top Five Improvers by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation at this year’s North American Cystic Fibrosis Conference (NACFC), held Oct. 27-29 in Orlando.

Improvement was measured by the annual Metric Report supplied by the Therapeutic Development Network (TDN) Cystic Fibrosis Research collaborative. The Metric measures each TDN center’s past enrollment of patients into studies and ranks each center compared to other national TDN centers. Between October 2015 and September 2016, the center at WVU successfully enrolled 52.5 percent of its patients with cystic fibrosis into observational and interventional studies.

“Our patients with cystic fibrosis are the key to research and clinical trials,” Kathy Moffett, MD, director of the Mountain State Cystic Fibrosis Center, said. “Patients must be enrolled in clinical trials in order to get new therapies and medications approved for themselves and other patients with cystic fibrosis. We have tried to create a culture of research in our cystic fibrosis center, while still providing excellent clinical care.”

Accredited by the national Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, the Mountain State Cystic Fibrosis Center has more than a two decades of experience caring for children and adults with this debilitating disease. The center’s leading-edge research and team approach results in the highest lung function for children with cystic fibrosis in the state.

As one of the only Therapeutic Development Network (TDN) Cystic Fibrosis Research sites in West Virginia and one of only 77 in the nation, the Mountain State Cystic Fibrosis Center is a leader in cystic fibrosis research. The TDN designation allows patients with cystic fibrosis easy and rapid access into the cystic fibrosis research pipeline to clinical trials of the latest medications.