Xingmin Sun

Title : Antibiotic resistance of clostridioides difficile

Abstract:

Clostridioides difficile is one of the top five urgent antibiotic resistance threats in USA. There is a worldwide increase in multidrug resistance (MDR) of C. difficile, with emergence of novel strains which are often more virulent and MDR. Antibiotic resistance in C. difficile is constantly evolving with acquisition of novel resistance mechanisms, which can be transferred between different species of bacteria and among different C. difficile strains present in the clinical setting, community, and environment. Therefore, understanding the antibiotic resistance mechanisms of C. difficile is important to guide optimal antibiotic stewardship policies and to identify novel therapeutic targets to combat C. difficile as well as other bacteria. Epidemiology of C. difficile is driven by the evolution of antibiotic resistance. Prevalence of different C. difficile strains and their characteristic resistomes show distinct global geographical patterns. Understanding epidemiologically driven and strain-specific characteristics of antibiotic resistance is important for effective epidemiological surveillance of antibiotic resistance and to curb the inter-strain and -species spread of the C. difficile resistome. C. difficile has developed resistance to antibiotics with diverse mechanisms such as drug alteration, modification of the antibiotic target site and extrusion of drugs via efflux pumps. In this talk, I will summarize the most recent advancements in the understanding of mechanisms of antibiotic resistance in C. difficile and analyze the antibiotic resistance factors present in genomes of a few representatives well known, epidemic and MDR C. difficile strains found predominantly in different regions of the world.

Audience Take Away:

• Audience will learn epidemiology of C. difficile antibiotic resistance
• Audience will learn mechanisms of C. difficile antibiotic resistance
• The threat of C. difficile antibiotic resistance

Biography:

Dr. Sun is an Associate Professor with tenure in the Department of Molecular Medicine, College of Medicine at the University of South Florida (USF). He holds courtesy appointments in the Department of Internal Medicine, Department of Cell Biology, Microbiology & Molecular Biology, Department of Chemistry at USF, and USF Genomics. He received his PhD in Natural Sciences from the University of Kiel, Germany, and his Master Degree in Veterinary Microbiology and Immunology from the Nanjing Agricultural University, China. He received his postdoctoral training in Molecular Microbiology and Biochemistry at Brown University, USA. The research in his laboratory is focused on the pathogenesis of Clostridioides difficile and the development of novel therapeutics including vaccines to prevent / treat C. difficile infection (CDI). ​​He was an NIH (National Institutes of Health) Career Development K01 Awardee. His laboratory has been continuously supported by the NIH. He has been actively serving NIH study section panels including chairing the NIH study section panel in 2020. He serves as an Associate Editor for “Molecular Medicine”, Associate topic editor for “Frontiers in Microbiology”, and editorial boards for “Infection and Immunity” and “Applied and Environmental Microbiology”. He received Tufts Institute for Innovation Inaugural Award in 2014. In 2018, he was awarded "Faculty Outstanding Research Achievement Award" at USF. In 2019, he was awarded "Excellence in Innovation Award" at USF. He chaired the Research Committee of College of Medicine at USF from 2019 to 2020. Currently, he serves as the Vice President for the USF Chapter, National Academy of Inventors, USA.