Rohde honored with 2007 Scientific Research Award

Posted by Jayme Blaschke
University News Service
August 23, 2007

Rodney E. Rohde, assistant professor in the College of Health Professions, Clinical Laboratory Science program at Texas State University-San Marcos, has been awarded the 2007 Scientific Research Award by the American Society of Clinical Laboratory Science (ASCLS) in San Diego, California. 

Rohde, along with his co-authors, received the award for their work on a project titled “Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in a Texas Jail Population” that will be published in an upcoming edition of the Journal of Correctional Healthcare.  

ASCLS recognizes one project in the entire United States that represents outstanding CLS research at their annual conference. The project was a collaborative effort with Marilyn Felkner and colleagues from the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS). The research was supported by a research enhancement grant from Texas State and from DSHS sources.  The project allowed College of Health Clinical Laboratory Science undergraduate students (2004-06) to gain valuable research experience in clinical research. 

MRSA, along with other microbes, is a growing antibiotic resistance problem in the US and abroad that can cause a variety of medical problems, including death.

Rohde received his B.S. in microbiology and MS in biology with an emphasis in virology at Texas State.  In addition to his work in the College of Health Professions, he is also a clinical assistant professor (joint appointment) in the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center’s Clinical Laboratory Science Program.  Rohde also serves as an adjunct associate professor of biology in the nursing program for Austin Community College. 

His research interests are very diverse but focus on public health microbiology, specifically with respect to rabies virology, wildlife vaccination, antibiotic resistant bacteria, and molecular diagnostics/biotechnology.  Rohde is currently working on his Ph.D. in education.  For more specific information about his projects, please see: www.txstate.edu/~rr33.