Phage is the Rage: Bacteriophage Therapy for CF

In this episode, Ahmet Uluer, DO, MPH, Andrea Gavin Becker, and Lauren Harvey explore one of the most talked-about emerging therapies in cystic fibrosis care: bacteriophage therapy.

They’re joined by Steffanie Strathdee, PhD, infectious disease epidemiologist, co-founder of UC San Diego’s Center for Innovative Phage Applications and Therapeutics, and co-author of the memoir “The Perfect Predator”—to discuss how viruses called bacteriophages help fight dangerous antibiotic-resistant infections.

Steffanie shares the story of how phage therapy helped save her husband’s life after he developed a multidrug-resistant superbug infection no antibiotics could treat, and explains why scientists are once again turning to phages after decades of relying almost exclusively on antibiotics.

Together, they unpack the science behind phage therapy, the challenges of bringing it into mainstream medicine, and what phage therapy could mean for the CF community, where chronic infections, repeated antibiotic exposure and multi-drug resistance remain major concerns.

They’re also joined by Maggie Donovan, who shares her experience becoming one of the first people with CF to receive nebulized phage therapy for chronic MRSA through the FDA compassionate use pathway.

Plus: lazy phages, sewage and duck ponds, and why some of the most cutting-edge medicine in the world starts in places most people would never willingly visit—deep in the bowels of large cities!