The findings of a new research study increase understanding of the molecular drivers of C. diff infection and point to novel therapeutic strategies aimed at a pathogen that causes about half a million infections in the U.S. each year.

Vanderbilt research discovers that iron storage “spheres” inside the bacterium C. diff — the leading cause of hospital-acquired infections — are important for infection in an animal model and could offer new targets for antibacterial drugs.

Vanderbilt postdoctoral researcher Martin Douglass, PhD, has been named a 2023 Hanna Gray Fellow by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

Vanderbilt has received an NIH grant to launch the Vanderbilt Antibody and Antigen Discovery for Clostridioides difficile Vaccines, or VANDy-CdV.

The number of pediatric infections caused by Clostridioides difficile (C. diff) decreased from 2013 to 2019, likely due to an increase in antibiotic stewardship programs and improved hospital contact protocols, Vanderbilt researchers found.

A Vanderbilt study found that the bacterium Clostridioides difficile (C. difficile) may be a previously unrecognized contributor to colorectal cancer.

C. difficile — the leading cause of hospital-associated intestinal infections — induces a rapid influx of bile acids into the gut, which could provide a novel target for blocking infection.