Co-Coordinator:

Prof. Pavel Drevinek

Department of Medical Microbiology, Motol and Homolka University Hospital and Second Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, CZ
pavel.drevinek@lfmotol.cuni.cz

Co-Coordinator:

PD Dr Silvia Würstle MD, MBA

Infectious Diseases, University Hospital Frankfurt, Goethe University, Germany;
Silvia.Wuerstle@ukffm.de

ECFS-CTN Liaison:

Dr Kate Hill (ECFS-CTN)


MEMBERS

Pavel Drevinek, Czech Republic
Silvia Würstle, Germany
Kate Hill, Ireland
Jo Fothergill, UK
Tavs Qvist, Denmark
Zuzanna Drulis-Kawa, Poland
Eitan Kerem, Israel
Sarah Djebara, Belgium
Sylvia Hafkemeyer, Germany
Libby Duignan, UK
Jerry Nick, USA
Jonathan Koff, USA
Dara Riva, USA
Rebekah Dedrick, USA
Stacey Martiniano, USA
Lindsay Caverly, USA
John LiPuma, USA
Anna-Maria Dittrich, Germany
Anick Baca, Valencia, Spain
Ela Erdem Erlap, Turkey
Natalie Lorent, Belgium
Carlo Castellani, Italy
Tristan Ferry, France
Silke van Koningsbruggen-Rietschel
Frederic Laurent, France
Radu Botgros, EMA


Aims and objectives

Phage therapy - the therapeutic use of bacteriophages (phages) to treat bacterial infections - is gaining rapid interest within the CF community. This approach offers several advantages over traditional antibacterial therapy (antibiotics), including specificity to pathogenic bacteria, activity against biofilm-forming microorganisms, and efficacy irrespective of multidrug resistance. Given the incidence of difficult-to-treat infections in people with CF (pwCF), and the limitations of current antimicrobial options, there is a pressing need to explore how to integrate phage therapy more systematically within CF care. To address this need, a dedicated body under the ECFS is coordinating, facilitating, and advocating for responsible use of phage therapy in pwCF, particularly in life-threatening or otherwise intractable infections, by fostering international collaboration, knowledge exchange, and the development of practical frameworks.