Cure4CF Update

CF Awareness Month Reflection: Why This Science Stays With Me

Suzy Dimaline, CEO, Cure4CF

To our incredible community,

In our 20th year as Cure4CF, and during cystic fibrosis (CF) Awareness Month, I have found myself reflecting more than usual on the ideas that stay with you long after you first come across them.

There are some ideas in science that stay with you the moment you hear them.

For me, bacteriophages were one of those.

I remember someone describing them as tiny “superheroes” that already exist in nature, viruses designed to hunt down and destroy harmful bacteria. And while I now understand the science is far more complex than that, what I heard in that moment was something simple and powerful:

What if we could stop the bacteria before they had the chance to damage the lungs?

That idea has never really left me.

Over time, my curiosity became something deeper, a genuine admiration for what bacteriophage therapy could become, especially for people living with CF.

And I have to say, they are also just incredibly cool.

If you’ve ever seen an image of a bacteriophage, you’ll know what I mean. They look like something out of science fiction, a tiny bolt with legs, almost like a microscopic lunar lander. And that is actually not a bad way to think about how they work.

They land on the surface of a harmful bacterium, like a spacecraft touching down on the moon, and then inject their genetic material inside. From there, they take over, replicate, and ultimately destroy the bacteria from within.

It is precise. It is targeted. And it is, in its own way, extraordinary.

What fascinates me even more is that this is not new. Bacteriophage therapy has been around for decades, with its origins in places like Georgia and Russia, long before antibiotics became the dominant treatment. And now, as the world grapples with rising antibiotic resistance, we are rediscovering just how powerful this approach could be.

At Cure4CF, we have been privileged to be part of that rediscovery.

Jodie has beautifully captured the full journey in her blog “A Decade of Change: How Bacteriophage Research Is Making a Difference for People with CF” which shares the detailed story of how this work has grown from early pre-clinical studies through to clinical trials and emerging therapies. I really encourage you to read her piece if you want to understand the full scientific pathway behind this work.

What I am most proud of is the role we have played in helping move this field forward, backing early ideas when they were still uncertain, and continuing to support them as they have grown into something real.

We have seen bacteriophage research move from small early studies into real clinical exploration. We have seen it begin to reach people, especially children, who have lived with persistent, hard-to-treat infections for years.

And most importantly, we are starting to see what it could mean.

Not in theory, but in real life.

Fewer infections.
Stronger lungs.
More time out of hospital.

That is the part that stays with me.

Because while we are all working toward a long-term cure for cystic fibrosis, and we absolutely will not lose sight of that goal, we also need therapies that can make a difference right now.

If something can slow the progression of lung disease…
If it can reduce the burden of chronic infection…
If it can give people more time, more energy, more life…

Then it matters. Deeply.

What I admire about bacteriophage therapy is not just what it is, but what it represents. It reminds us that sometimes the answers we are searching for are not entirely new. They are waiting to be rediscovered, reimagined, and brought forward with the right science, belief, and persistence.

And importantly, this work does not only matter for people with CF. As we face the global challenge of rising antibiotic resistance, the lessons we learn here have the potential to shape how we treat bacterial infections for everyone. What we are discovering in CF could ultimately help transform outcomes across the entire world.

We are now at a point where that belief is being matched with real momentum. There is growing global collaboration, increasing investment, and a clearer pathway toward making phage therapy more accessible in the future.

And while there is still important work ahead, what I see most clearly is progress, a field moving forward with purpose, urgency, and hope.

To our CF community, thank you for continuing to believe in research, in progress, and in possibilities like this. Everything we do at Cure4CF is driven by you.

Bacteriophages may be microscopic, but the impact they could have on people’s lives is anything but small.

And I will continue to follow their journey with real wonder, and a lot of hope.

With gratitude,
Suzy 
CEO, Cure4CF