Clostridium (Clostridioides) difficile is the leading cause, globally, of a nosocomial- antibiotic associated diarrhea, known as Clostridium difficile infection (CDI). Asymptomatic colonization is very common in many community settings, such as healthcare facilities, adult care homes, and infants. Conventional CDI therapy requires antibiotic treatment, utilizing vancomycin or metronidazole, and sometimes fidaxomicin. However, due to the progressive impact of these antibiotics on the gastrointestinal tract, CDI infected individuals are likely to disrupt natural gut microbiota. The results from overuse of antibiotics have been found to be a risk factor in the progression for a CDI infection, by reducing microbial diversity and species richness. Other methods of CDI treatment include a more direct approach in changing a patient’s intestinal microbiota via fecal microbiota transplantation. This innovative treatment is currently being investigated for efficacy, however, there are significant risks when obtaining donor stool and during administration. Subsequently, a microbiota-targeted therapy was recently introduced utilizing modified bacteriocins to neutralize C. difficile toxins (TcdA and TcdB) during ongoing infection. This study aims to analyze the efficacy of these Clostridium difficile infection therapies and determine a cost-benefit analysis from a patient’s standpoint. While all of these treatment options are effective, further studies are necessary to understand the progression of C. difficile from colonization to infection.

Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) is a rare genetic disorder that causes many complications in individuals who have this disease. Currently, there is evidence to support the role of genes located in a particular region of chromosome 15 (15q11-q13) in the etiology of PWS. However, the exact mechanisms for causality and phenotypic variability haven't been identified, and the specific genes involved and their role in the development of the various symptoms of PWS are being characterized but not yet known. One potential mechanism underlying PWS and the variability in phenotypes observed in the presence of structural variants in the genomic region within the 15q11-q13 region of the genome. Prior to exploring this mechanism, we will recruit individuals with PWS to analyze the genomic DNA using technologies like optical mapping with Bionano Genomics which allows the analysis of long DNA molecules to detect structural variations. We will also use optical mapping data (from Bionano Genomics) in another research project which involves analysis of individuals who have Autism +Down Syndrome. We hope to identify differences in the structural variants within these individuals compared to individuals with Down syndrome without autism, individuals with autism only (No Down Syndrome), and controls without either Down syndrome or autism. In the long term, we hope this approach will identify genomic differences specific to individual patients which may help predict risk and improve personalized treatment and management for some associated signs and symptoms in PWS and those who have Autism + Down syndrome.

Crimes involving firearms are broad in the U.S and is critical that law enforcement and investigators can identify evidence that advances criminal investigations by identifying the person(s) of interest. Spent cartridge cases are not regularly submitted for DNA testing, and our ability to consistently limit metallic and gunshot residue (GSR) in said cases has not been successful to date. GSR is deposited on hands, clothes, and weapon(s) from the person discharging the firearm and is composed of primer and propellant fragments. An improvement in the ability to limit the persistence of inhibitory compounds would increase the success rate by which DNA typing would be employed in forensic investigations involving spent cartridge cases. Ammunition regularly contains a lead-based priming mixture-a critical component of GSR. These residues have demonstrated to result in concentration-dependent inhibition of PCR-based DNA typing STRs. However, due to chemical changes in the manufacturing of commercial cartridge cases, it is harder to recognize which inhibitory compounds are in lead-free primers (LFPs). In the current study, we seek to study the effects of LFP ammunition on our ability to detect 1) inhibitory compounds from commercial ammunition; 2) assess the impact of metallic cartridge cases; and 3) assess the impact of firearm metal/coatings in the presence of common LFP residues. By providing more about the priming compound and the cartridge case composition, we hope to identify new methods which will improve DNA typing success in firearm investigations.

Phase separation inside bacterial cytoplasm has gained interest in the soft matter community over the last decades, where experimental evidence shows the existence of membrane-less bound compartments in eukaryotic cells driven by liquid-liquid phase separation. New research suggests that a similar mechanism may apply for bacterial DNA within the cytoplasm, showing liquid-crystal-like properties. Despite decades of attempts, a complete understanding of the collective dynamics and self-organization between intracellular components in bacteria is still a work in progress. In this research, we conjecture that DNA condensates inside bacteria behave as an active matter liquid-crystal showing local orientational order, phase separating from the passive components in bacterial cytoplasm. To test this conjecture, we built a particulate model of bacterial DNA condensates using Brownian Dynamics simulations to study a bi-mixture of Active Brownian Particles (ABP) and passive particles of the same size, but with different mechano-adhesive contact interactions and self-propulsion speeds. Our results capture the behavior and structure of a phase-separated system, with the presence of time-evolving topological defects showing local orientational order.