The Rosenau Family Research Foundation has awarded a research grant to Hara Levy, MD, MMSc, professor in the Division of Pulmonology and Sleep Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, within the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. The three-year grant of $375,000, effective May 15, will support Levy’s project, “Enriching CF Newborn Screening Outcomes through a Precision Personalized Medicine Strategy.”
This award reflects the foundation’s mission to improve the lives of individuals affected by Krabbe disease and cystic fibrosis (CF) through research funding, advocacy, and the pursuit of innovative treatments that enable patients to live life beyond the limitations of these conditions.
Inspired by the Wisconsin Newborn Screening (NBS) Project, Levy’s research aims to understand why children diagnosed with CF through newborn screening experience significantly different pulmonary outcomes, particularly in the context of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Pa) respiratory infections. These infections are a major contributor to CF lung disease progression, yet little is known about the underlying molecular mechanisms that make some patients more susceptible than others.
“While CF newborn screening has transformed early diagnosis, it doesn’t necessarily translate into equal outcomes for all patients,” Levy said. “Our goal is to identify personalized molecular targets that can inform more precise and effective treatments, especially for those with high susceptibility to airway infections.”
Currently, CF care is primarily based on disease severity and symptom management rather than the biological factors driving those symptoms. Levy’s project seeks to shift that paradigm by identifying individualized therapeutic strategies that address the root causes of infection-related lung damage.
Collaborating with Levy on this interdisciplinary project are Stephen Meyn, MD, PhD, professor in the Division of Genetics and Metabolism, and Qiongshi Lu, PhD, associate professor in the Department of Biostatistics and Medical Informatics. Together, they will leverage genomics, bioinformatics, and clinical insights to uncover pathways that influence immune responses in the CF lung and explore novel approaches to halt disease progression.