Dr Chris Boyd’s research group stages a public engagement activity to highlight Cystic Fibrosis gene therapy research
The Boyd Research group presented the ‘Target the Lung’ public engagement activity to University of Edinburgh staff at an event organised to celebrate the University’s REF results.
A University of Edinburgh REF celebration event, named ‘Research with Impact’, was held at McEwan Hall on 1st November 2022 and was attended by University of Edinburgh staff. The event consisted of several talks, and showcased a number of the research communities’ public engagement activities for attendees to interact with. One of the public engagement activities selected to be present at this prestigious event was ‘Target the Lung’ by Dr Chris Boyd’s research group (of CGEM and IGC)
Ann Doherty (Clinical Trial Manager) and Giulia Bartolomucci (Research Assistant) of the Boyd research group presented the drop-in ‘Target the Lung’ activity on the use of gene therapy to target Cystic Fibrosis. This public engagement activity was originally developed by Laura Hyndman (Research Associate) of the Boyd Research Group, in collaboration with Craig Nicol, Connor Warnock and Dee Davison.
This drop-in activity showcased work carried out by the Boyd Research Group as part of the UK Respiratory Gene Therapy Consortium (GTC: links below). It explained the biology behind the genetic disorder of Cystic Fibrosis as well as providing information on the group’s research into gene therapy to alleviate the associated lung disease. It showcased the group’s last non-viral clinical trial explaining how it targeted lung cells and included an interactive activity featuring gene therapy delivery methods.
Dr Boyd leads the Pulmonary Gene Therapy Group at CGEM, which aims to translate gene therapy research into clinical treatments for Cystic Fibrosis and other lung conditions. The Cystic Fibrosis lentiviral gene therapy development programme is a partnership between the GTC, Boehringer Ingelheim and Oxford BioMedica. Gene therapy projects for other lung diseases are principally supported by a Wellcome Trust Portfolio Grant to the GTC. Dr Boyd and other GTC members recently reviewed the state-of-play of pulmonary gene therapy (McLachlan et al (2022) Hum Gene Ther, 33:893-912).
'The exhibit was very well attended, with many aspects of gene therapy being discussed…it seemed to be well received