Dr. Clare Rock is an assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Associate hospital Epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, and Faculty Member at Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality. Her research interest focuses the prevention of pathogen transmission in the hospital environment. This includes novel strategies of improving patient room cleaning and disinfection, including human factors engineering approaches, and conducting robust clinical trials to examine effectiveness of ""no touch"" novel technologies such as UV-C light. She has particular interest in carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae transmission in the hospital environment, including outbreak management, and transmission and epidemiology of Clostridium difficile. Her other area of interest is diagnostic stewardship, and the behavioral, cultural and human factors aspects of implementation of initiatives to enhance appropriate use of diagnostic tests. She leads a national initiative, as part of the High Value Practice Academic Alliance, examining strategies for appropriate testing for Clostridium difficile. This is a wider implementation of work that Dr. Rock conducted with The Johns Hopkins Health System facilities. Dr. Rock has multiple sources of grant funding including from the Agency of Healthcare Research and Quality, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and industry. Dr. Rock is Vice Chair of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America Research Network, and serves on the SHEA research committee. Dr. Rock earned her M.B.B.Ch. at the University College Dublin School of Medicine, National University of Ireland, and her MS masters of clinical science of research at the University of Maryland, where she received the MS scholar award for epidemiology.

Research in the Vestibular NeuroEngineering Lab (VNEL) focuses on restoring inner ear function through “bionic” electrical stimulation, inner ear gene therapy, and enhancing the central nervous system’s ability to learn ways to use sensory input from a damaged inner ear. VNEL research involves basic and applied neurophysiology, biomedical engineering, clinical investigation and population-based epidemiologic studies. We employ techniques including single-unit electrophysiologic recording; histologic examination; 3-D video-oculography and magnetic scleral search coil measurements of eye movements; microCT; micro MRI; and finite element analysis. Our research subjects include computer models, circuits, animals and humans. For more information about VNEL, click here. VNEL is currently recruiting subjects for two first-in-human clinical trials: 1) The MVI Multichannel Vestibular Implant Trial involves implantation of a “bionic” inner ear stimulator intended to partially restore sensation of head movement. Without that sensation, the brain’s image- and posture-stabilizing reflexes fail, so affected individuals suffer difficulty with blurry vision, unsteady walking, chronic dizziness, mental fogginess and a high risk of falling. Based on designs developed and tested successfully in animals over the past the past 15 years at VNEL, the system used in this trial is very similar to a cochlear implant (in fact, future versions could include cochlear electrodes for use in patients who also have hearing loss). Instead of a microphone and cochlear electrodes, it uses gyroscopes to sense head movement, and its electrodes are implanted in the vestibular labyrinth. For more information on the MVI trial, click here. 2) The CGF166 Inner Ear Gene Therapy Trial involves inner ear injection of a genetically engineered DNA sequence intended to restore hearing and balance sensation by creating new sensory cells (called “hair cells”). Performed at VNEL with the support of Novartis and through a collaboration with the University of Kansas and Columbia University, this is the world’s first trial of inner ear gene therapy in human subjects. Individuals with severe or profound hearing loss in both ears are invited to participate. For more information on the CGF166 trial, click here.