Cystic fibrosis patients got their ‘miracle drug’ thanks to federal research funding – new Trump administration rules may cut future miracles short

The Trump administration exerted increased political control over NIH research funding, leading to major cuts and disruptions to lifesaving research.

By: Fred D. Ledley, Bentley University, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: October 14, 2026

Words: 978

Last Updated: 2 days, 18 hours ago

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By Fred D. Ledley, Bentley University

The hardest disease to care for when I was training as a pediatrician in the late 1970s was cystic fibrosis, a disease in which abnormally thick mucus secretions block the lungs’ airways and make it progressively harder to breathe.

Back then, there was no treatment for the disease itself. All we had was physical therapy to clear mucus from the lungs, and drugs to dilate the …

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