1) The roles of innate immunity and intestinal microbiome in the pathogenesis of CDI


2) Physiology, virulence and pathogenesis mechanisms of C. difficile 


3) Development of novel therapeutic /preventive agents including vaccines and antimicrobials against C. difficile


4) Antibiotic resistance mechanisms of C. difficile


5) Signaling pathways of pro-inflammatory mediators and CDI


NIH R01AI132711 (PI – X. Sun)


NIH R01AI149852 (PI – J. Cai / X.Sun)


NIH R21 R21 AI159745 (PI - J.Lin /X. Sun)


NIH R03 DK112004  (PI – X. Sun)


Anthony Gagliardi Foundation (PI –X.Sun)


USF College of Public health Interdisciplinary Team Award (PI – Rays Jiang; Co-I: X.Sun)

Contract (PI - X. Sun)

Relevant Reading

About

Current Projects

Clostridioides difficile  Research Team

​University of South Florida

Research Interests

​Recent Fundings

Clostridioides difficile  (Clostridium difficile)

​​​​​​​C. difficile infection (CDI) has emerged as a significant public health threat worldwide.

Toxins are major virulent factors of C. difficileThe Sun Lab (See here) focuses on the pathogenesis of C. difficile, host immune responses and development of novel preventive and therapeutic agents against CDI. We have established mouse and hamster models of CDI to support basic and applied research on the pathogenesis of C. difficile. We also use multidisciplinary approaches in our research, including molecular biology/microbiology, immunology, cell biology, protein engineering, genome sequencing and bioinformatics, flow cytometry and nano-particle delivery.