Eric Alton speaks to Sam Rose, Assistant Commissioning Editor Eric Alton is the coordinator of the UK Cystic Fibrosis Gene Therapy Consortium, which brings together the three centers in the UK (Edinburgh and Oxford Universities and Imperial College) focused on this field. Alton is Professor of Gene Therapy and Respiratory Medicine at the National Heart and Lung Institute, Imperial College (London, UK), and Honorary Consultant Physician and Director of the Respiratory Biomedical Research Unit at the Royal Brompton Hospital (London, UK). For over 15 years Alton has moved from inventing a diagnostic test for cystic fibrosis (CF), to developing gene therapy for CF, including two clinical trials. To date, Alton has published more than 130 articles on CF. At the 2011 Medical Futures Innovation Awards; Alton was presented with the Best Translational Research Innovation Award, and the Best Therapeutic Innovation Award (Respiratory). At present, Alton is working towards the first ever clinical trial that will meas...