Jason Papin, Ph.D.

New research from the University of Virginia School of Medicine and collaborators reveals how microorganisms found in our guts can worsen dangerous C. difficile infections. The discovery could help doctors identify patients at risk for severe illness and open the door to new treatments.

C. difficile is a bacterium that can cause potentially deadly infections, particularly among the elderly and people on long-term antibiotics. These infections are characterized by diarrhea, nausea and fever. C. diff, as it is commonly known, strikes more than 350,000 Americans a year. Once infected, patients are prone to suffer re-infections; among those who survive, one in six will develop another case within eight weeks, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As such, C. diff can be a major problem for hospitals and nursing facilities… Continue reading.

Researchers are using an advanced computer modeling system to understand how a potentially deadly infection can cause problems for hospitalized patients.

The University of Virginia researchers are looking at C. difficile by using a form of predictive computer modeling called GENREs.

According to a release, this could help speed the development of new treatments for C. difficile infections, which affect about half a million Americans every year.

“This computer model has the potential to significantly advance our understanding of this important human pathogen,” said researcher Jason Papin, PhD, of UVA’s School of Medicine and School of Engineering… Continue reading.

This much is clear: The tiny bacteria that live on and inside us are tremendously important for our health and well-being, affecting everything from our mood to the risk of autism.

But understanding how those multitudes of microbes interact – and how they influence human health – is a gargantuan task, akin to counting the grains of sand on a beach.

Researchers at the University of Virginia and their collaborators, however, have devised a way to understand not just what is happening, but why. By combining cutting-edge computer modeling with old-fashioned laboratory legwork, they have developed a crystal ball to predict how microorganisms will interact and the ripple effects those interactions will have… Continue reading.

WASHINGTON, D.C.— The American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) has announced the pending induction of Jason Papin, Ph.D., Professor, Biomedical Engineering, University of Virginia, to its College of Fellows. Dr. Papin was nominated, reviewed, and elected by peers and members of the College of Fellows For outstanding contributions to the development and application of computational methods to biochemical networks in metabolic engineering and infectious disease.