UCSF’s Kyle Cromer Receives Emily’s Entourage Grant to Develop Synthetic Biology Approach for Cystic Fibrosis Treatment

Gene correction is only as powerful as its ability to endure.

Kyle Cromer, PhD, Assistant Professor at UCSF, and Sriram Vaidyanathan, PhD, of Nationwide Children’s Hospital and The Ohio State University, have earned a $200K, two-year Emily’s Entourage Translational Research Grant to confront a stubborn challenge in cystic fibrosis gene therapy.

Their approach uses synthetic biology to give corrected airway stem cells a temporary, controllable growth advantage—helping them expand, persist, and ultimately regenerate healthy airway tissue.

It’s an inventive strategy aimed not simply at correcting the CFTR gene, but at giving that correction the staying power needed for more durable therapeutic benefit.

Congratulations to Drs. Cromer and Vaidyanathan on this compelling work.