Heda Lab at MUW is furthering Cystic Fibrosis research
COLUMBUS, Miss., GORDO, Ala. (WCBI) – “There is no cure.” Those are the words every Cystic Fibrosis Patient has heard.
However, some treatments can help those living with the genetic disease tackle day-to-day activities.
And the Heda Lab at Mississippi University for Women is helping do just that.
“Cystic Fibrosis is a common genetic disease in white, Caucasians of Northern European Origin. So, you inherit this particular disease. You cannot get it,” said Dr. Ghanshyam Heda, Professor of Biology at Mississippi University for Women.
Since the mid-’90s, Dr. Ghanshyam Heda has studied different aspects of CF.
The disease affects major organs like the lungs, digestive tract, and pancreas.
A $42,000 grant from NASA and INBRE will further CF research, through a collaborative effort spanning to India and the United Kingdom.
Over the last 50 years, CF research has already come a long way, helping patients live longer with antibiotics, mucolytics, and enzymes.
“50 years ago, their lifespan was really short,” Heda said. “Of many individuals born with this disease, half of them did not see their second birthday. Right now, there is no cure, but there are a lot of treatments available. Because of this treatment, most of the CF patients are living to their 40s and 50s.” “But what’s happening in the last 10 years is, there are small molecules, and these small molecules are helping bad protein that they acquired from their parents to be able to fold it in a way that provides them relief. That means, the salt ions that they’re not able to endure in their cells, these molecules will help them to endure those salt ions. Because of that, the lifespan is now a further chance they can live beyond 50 and to their
The grant will ultimately help research the ability of chemical compounds to correct defects in the CTFR protein, which is responsible for causing the disease.
Dr. Heda said although there is no cure, the goal in his lab is to enhance and help them live a full life.
“We are really hopeful that these compounds will be added to already available compounds in terms of treatment for the disease,” Heda said.
Susan Estes lost her daughter, Libby Hankins, to CF in 2017.
Throughout Libby’s life, she wanted to help others like her and participated in CF research.
“She said yes to every opportunity she had to help someone else with CF,” Estes said. “I am amazed and delighted and proud that there’s a great this close to where we live. We are just a few miles down the road from them. When Libby was first diagnosed with CF, I had not even heard of CF. So I’m so thankful that there’s something here and close by where people are still working for a cure. You know, there’s there’s nothing sweeter to me than someone who helps your child. And they’re not just helping Libby and her legacy, but they’re helping all of these other children in this area because we truly believe that one day we will have a cure for CF.”
Susan said Libby always wanted better for all the other CF patients she met on her journey and those who would come after her.
“Even though she realized at some point as she grew older that maybe these research studies weren’t going to help her, they were going to help them,” Estes said. “And then she wanted that to be part of her legacy.”
And Susan hopes to see a cure while she is still living.
“Take, for instance, someone who has lost their child to gun violence,” Estes said. “They want all guns abolished because they took away their child or someone whose family was killed by a drunk driver. You want stricter drinking and driving laws because you lost everything to alcohol abuse. You want it all wiped off this earth because you know how awful it is. I feel exactly the same way about CF.”
“Once you are a Cystic Fibrosis parent, you are always a Cystic Fibrosis parent. Whether on earth or in Heaven like Libby, we want a cure,” Estes said. “As CF parents, we have all closely followed the CF Pipeline – or the new breakthroughs and promising research trials. The times lines show is what is coming and what is working. We pray that those breakthroughs read our children in time. Some do, but sadly some do not. There were so many research studies that Libby was in. She always said ‘yes’ each time she was asked. Some offered her monetary compensation, and she always turned it down so more money could go to more research. There came a point in her life when her disease had progressed so far that we knew that some of the most promising trials – the Trikafta – would not happen soon enough for her. Yes, she still said yes to every possible trial. Because she said ‘yes’ someone else’s life will be better. That is powerful. We have a close friend whose little girl was diagnosed with CF while Libby was going through the transplant process. I will always remember the day Libby’s friends started calling her when the child received her diagnosis. They wanted her to call the mother and talk to her. Libby waited several hours and went into her ‘thinking mode.’ She told me that she believed with all her heart that Emmalynn would have a better life because of the advancements that had been made. She said, ‘Her CF will not be my CF, and that is the best hope I can give them.’ While some of the new breakthroughs did not come in time for Libby, I still celebrate every one of them. I am proud to know that people are still fighting against the disease that took her away from me. I am inordinately proud that even though she is not here to see it, she was certainly a part of it because she said yes to research. She wanted more for the ones who came behind her. To me, research means another child won’t need a feeding tube for nutrition, multiple sinus surgeries, or lung transplants, or swallowing literal handfuls of pills.”
The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation states that 105,000 people have been diagnosed with CF across 94 countries, and CF can affect people of every racial and ethnic group.
