Peggy Lillis Foundation Will Honor C diff Advocates at Annual Gala

The Peggy Lillis Foundation (PLF), a nonprofit focused on Clostridioides difficile (C diff) awareness, will hold its 17th Annual Changing the Odds Gala on Friday, September 18, at 26 Bridge in Brooklyn, New York. The event brings together patients, caregivers, clinicians, researchers, and industry leaders to support education, advocacy, and policy work aimed at improving outcomes for people affected by C diff, a bacterial infection linked to nearly half a million cases and roughly 30,000 deaths in the United States each year.¹

The evening will include a cocktail reception, dinner, casino games, raffles, and dancing, alongside presentation of the Foundation's annual awards.

“The gala is an opportunity for people who have survived C diff to come out and celebrate,” said PLF’s CEO Christian Lillis. “It's [also] an opportunity for people that have cared for those people or had a loved one that's battled C diff, or, even like me, if you've lost a loved one to C diff.” (Lillis lost his mother to the infection and named the foundation in honor of her memory.)

In terms of the most pressing issues around C diff, Lillis points to the fragmentation across the healthcare system as a driver of continued C diff spread, citing gaps between inpatient and outpatient care, underinvestment in infection prevention, and limited patient input in drug and guideline development.

Four Honorees Recognized

Lillis says the gala’s theme for this revolves around the whole C diff experience from diagnosis through treatment and having the resources to minimize the disruption the experience can cause.

This year's honorees span the full range of the fight against the infection, from laboratory research to bedside care to peer support.“The honorees that we have represent every category that lends itself to the fight against C diff,” said Lillis.

Carol Raye will receive the Advocate Award. After developing a severe C diff infection in 2011 and enduring months of illness before receiving a fecal microbiota transplant, Raye became a leading volunteer for the Foundation, chairing its Peer Support Network and mentoring patients navigating their own recoveries.

The Leadership Award will go jointly to Alexander Khoruts, MD, and Peter Westerhaus. Khoruts, a gastroenterologist and Professor of Medicine at the University of Minnesota, directs the institution's Microbiota Therapeutics Program and has helped establish fecal microbiota transplantation as a standard treatment option for recurrent C diff.

Westerhaus founded Achieving Cures Together, a nonprofit that works to accelerate microbiome research and bring new therapies to patients, following his own experience with multiple C diff infections.

Bobby Warren, MPS, will receive the Innovator Award for his work in antimicrobial stewardship and infection prevention. Warren directs the Disinfection, Resistance and Transmission Epidemiology Lab at Duke University's Center for Antimicrobial Stewardship and Infection Prevention, where his research examines environmental contamination and disinfection strategies tied to healthcare-associated infections, including C diff.

Reference
1.PEGGY LILLIS FOUNDATION TO HOST 17TH ANNUAL CHANGING THE ODDS GALA IN SUPPORT OF C. DIFFICILE ADVOCACY AND AWARENESS. PLF press release. September 1, 2026. Accessed September 9, 2026.