R. Bryan Rock, M.D.

Assistant Professor
Department of Medicine
Division of Infectious Diseases & International Medicine

Dr. Rock received his medical degree from the University of Minnesota Medical School and completed his Internal Medicine training at the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, MN. After completing an Infectious Diseases Fellowship at the University of Minnesota, he joined the faculty in the Department of Medicine in 2005. His major research interests have been in the area of host defenses and pathogenesis of central nervous system infections. With grant support from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and in conjunction with colleagues in the Center for Infectious Diseases and Microbiology Translational Research, he has been investigating the cellular and molecular mechanisms of defense and damage in the brain caused by HIV and Mycobacterium tuberculosis, and the role of nicotine and other drugs of abuse on these processes.

Selected publications:

Rock, R. Bryan, Shuxian Hu, Genya Gekker, Wen S. Sheng, Barbara May, Vivek Kapur, and Phillip K. Peterson. Mycobacterium tuberculosis-induced cytokine and chemokine expression by human microglia and astrocytes: Effects of dexamethasone. J Infect Dis. 2005 Dec;192:2054-2058.

Rock, R. Bryan, Wendy Sutherland, Cristina Baker, David N. Williams. Extrapulmonary tuberculosis among Somalis in Minnesota. Emerg Infect Dis. 2006 September; 12(9):1434-36.

Rock, R. Bryan, Genya Gekker, Shuxian Hu, Wen S. Sheng, Guy A. Cabral, Billy R. Martin, and Phillip K. Peterson. WIN55,212-2-Mediated Inhibition of HIV-1 Expression in Microglial Cells: Involvement of Cannabinoid Receptors. J NeuroImmun Pharm. 2007 June; 2(2):178-83.

Other links

http://www.dom.umn.edu/idim/faculty/fumc/home.html