Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition

C. difficile bacteria (image courtesy of CDC/Jennifer Oosthuizen)
April 17, 2026

C. diff study enrolling patients over 65 at increased risk of infection

Participants in the BEETHOVEN study will be randomized to receive two C. difficile vaccine doses six months apart, or a placebo, to learn if an investigational vaccine is safe and can help prevent C. difficile infection in people age 65 and older.

C. difficile bacteria (image courtesy of CDC/Jennifer Oosthuizen)
February 18, 2026

Vanderbilt research offers new hope for preventing repeated C. diff infections

Treatment options are limited for the more than 500,000 people in the U.S. who are diagnosed annually with C. diff infections, but researchers are working on potential vaccines, therapeutic antibodies and — most recently — nanobodies, to prevent and treat C. diff infections.

Clostridium difficile bacterium, 3D illustration
January 28, 2026

Gut microbiome differs according to C. diff symptom status

In a study of children with symptomatic or asymptomatic C. diff, symptom status loomed as the strongest association with differences in gut microbial abundance and diversity.

February 5, 2024

Vanderbilt performs its first pediatric living donor liver transplant

Young Cameron Campbell recently became the first pediatric patient to receive a living donor liver transplant at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.

The study found that some children with mystery digestive symptoms may actually have undiagnosed alpha-gal syndrome, commonly known as the red meat allergy linked to tick bites.
April 13, 2023

Children’s mystery symptoms may be alpha-gal syndrome

A Vanderbilt study found that some children with mystery digestive symptoms may actually have undiagnosed alpha-gal syndrome, commonly known as the red meat allergy linked to tick bites.

November 3, 2022

C. diff infections drop in children

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.