Tracy R. Rosebrock

Biography

Tracy Rosebrock, Ph.D., MPH, is a scientist and public health professional with 20 years of experience in the biological and epidemiological bases of infectious diseases. She has uncovered novel mechanisms of bacterial and viral pathogenesis, discovered new diagnostic criteria, and quantified the effectiveness of combinatorial antibiotic therapies for tuberculosis. 
  
In addition to teaching several of her favorite subjects, she serves as a mentor for undergraduate students interested in research. The Rosebrock Lab focuses on the biology and public health of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV). HCMV is the most common infectious agent transmitted vertically, from mother to fetus; however, few women receive education before or during pregnancy to reduce their risk of infection. This is consequential as congenital HCMV infection is the leading cause of birth defects in the United States and of non-genetic hearing loss worldwide. Moreover, HCMV disproportionately affects communities of low socio-economic status and those who live in resource-poor nations. Given the inequitable distribution and impacts of HCMV infection, these realities highlight an important health disparity that can be resolved. 
  
Rosebrock earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from New College of Florida and a master's degree at Columbia University's College of Physicians and Surgeons. She received a doctorate from Cornell University's Boyce Thompson Institute and an MPH degree from the University of Massachusetts. In her post-doctoral work in the laboratory of Sarah Fortune, M.D., at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, she uncovered one way HIV infection impairs innate immunity, increasing the risk of disease from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. 

Education

• Post-Doctoral Fellow, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, Immunology and Infectious Diseases
• Ph.D., Cornell University, Boyce Thompson Institute
• MPH, University of Massachusetts
• M.A., Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons
• B.A., New College of Florida

Research Interests

• Pathogens, pathogenesis, and the epidemiology of infectious diseases (focus: Human Cytomegalovirus)
• Public health program design and evaluation

Courses Taught

• Clinical Epidemiology
• Understanding Health Disparities
• Maternal and Child Health
• Microbiology & Microbiology Lab
• Cell Biology & Cell Biology Lab

Awards

• $26,600 Research Publication Grant in Engineering, Medicine and Science, American Association of University Women, 2022