Joseph Rocco, MD
Expert Physician
Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH)
Dr. Rocco is a physician-scientist and clinical investigator at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and Chief of the Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis (HLH) and Hyperinflammatory Syndromes Section within the Laboratory of Immunoregulation and Infectious Disease. After completing fellowship at NIAID, he was awarded a position through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Transitional Program in Clinical Research, which provides up to 5-years of funding, where he started a clinical-translational research program dedicated to studying the immunopathogenesis of HLH in adults. He is the Principal Investigator of the HERCULES clinical trial (Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis Evaluation and Research of Clinical, immUnoLogic and transcriptome Study) – a prospective, longitudinal study of adults with HLH that allows for the systematic collection of research samples while providing clinical care for participants.
Thus far, they have treated and collected longitudinal research samples on over 100-individuals. His research laboratory has a focus on multi-Omics utilizing proteomics, high-dimensional flow cytometry, paired T-cell receptor and single-cell RNA sequencing, and whole genome sequencing to further characterize these complex hyperinflammatory patients. Overall, their goal is to provide an unprecedented, in-depth immunopathogenic evaluation of a well-annotated, prospective HLH cohort to better characterize the spectrum of disease and to identify targetable immune pathways that can be treated with personalized therapies.
