The Science 140 team are delighted to announce the Cystic Fibosis Association of Ireland (CFAI) as our partnership charity. As we stated at the beginning of the project, our aim is to collate your submitted tweets in to a entertaining, informative and fun book - with all proceeds of the sale of that book going to charity. We have been working behind the scenes over the past few weeks, ironing out details with the CFAI on how best to target the funds raised and now we can finally confirm the details.
Ireland has the highest rate of Cystic Fibrosis in the world, with approximately 1 in every 19 Irish people carrying the CF gene. Where two carriers parent a child together, there is a 1 in 4 chance of the baby being born with CF. Sadly, CF is Ireland's most common life-threatening inherited disease.
The CFAI offer support and assistance to people with CF and their families but also help fund research projects in Irish universities. As the members of the Science 140 team all have a background in science, the CFAI have agreed that the funds raised during the project will be targeted towards their research projects! A total of four research projects are currently being funded by CFAI in conjunction with the Health Research Board (HRB) and the Medical Research Charities Group (MRCG). Briefly, these are:
- The role of mucus and mucins in mediating Pseudomonas aeruginosa colonisation of the cystic fibrosis lung - Principal Investigator: Dr. Marguerite Clyne, University College Dublin
- National Prevalence of Depression and Anxiety in Patients with Cystic Fibrosis and Parents: Impact on Health and Quality of Life - Principal Investigator: Prof Eileen Savage, University College Cork
- Gender differences in muscle dysfunction and electrical muscle stimulation in cystic fibrosis - Principal Investigator: Prof Charles Gallagher, St. Vincent's University Hospital
- Genetic Modifiers of the CF Phenotype - Principal Investigator: Dr Ed McKone, St. Vincent's University Hospital / University College Dublin
Further research involving Cork University Hospital will be announced in the near future too. We are delighted to be working in partnership with the CFAI and the research groups and we hope that our proposed book will be a success! In the last three weeks we have collected over 700 excellent science related tweets - way above our expectations. We will continue to collect your tweets over the next few months and will begin the process of selecting the best 1500 for the finished product! Keep your tweets coming and look out for daily challenges!
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