Profile
Kylie Rock
Biological Sciences
Assistant Professor
864-656-2328
Jordan Hall 200 [Lab]
Long Hall 134 [Office]
Educational Background
Ph.D, Toxicology, North Carolina State University, 2019
B.S., Biology, St. Lawrence University, 2012
Profile/About Me
Kylie Rock is a Toxicologist and an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biological Sciences. She has spent more than a decade in the field of toxicology working with a broad range of animal models, including laboratory (rats and mice), domestic (horses and dogs), and wildlife (sharks and alligators) species, to assess health risks associated with chemical exposures.
Research Interests
The Repro-Eco lab implements a One Environmental Health approach to investigate situational differences in anthropogenic factors that contribute to chemical exposures and identify the origins of chemical-associated health risks, particularly those that are reproductive and developmental in origin. We are especially interested in the placenta, a transient organ that plays an important role in both maternal and fetal health during pregnancy. Situated between the mother and fetus, the placenta is made up of both maternal and fetal tissue. Utilizing lab mice as our primary in vivo model we will investigate molecular and morphological changes in maternal (endometrium) and fetal (blastocyst) tissues that eventually form the placenta to identify chemical-induced alterations in placental development and function that may contribute to adverse pregnancy and offspring health outcomes. Related investigations will also pursue 1) how interacting stressors, such as chemical exposure and the physiological demands of pregnancy, impact maternal metabolic health and subsequent pregnancies, and 2) develop translationally relevant in vitro models, incorporating human cell-lines, biological matrices, and even microbiota, to probe reproductive molecular pathways that are vulnerable to perturbation by synthetic chemicals.
A developing research area in the lab utilizes sentinel animals as bioindicators of situational environmental exposures. Replicating accurate environmental exposures in the lab is unachievable and necessitates biomonitoring efforts to characterize exposures and long-term health consequences of synthetic chemicals. Currently, we are collaborating with scientists at UC Davis and OSU to investigate the role that coastal habitat urbanization plays in the bioaccumulation of contaminants in sharks across life stages.
Research Group (Lab)
Paige Powell, Lab Manager
Mary Boland, Research Assistant
Maryam Afghah, PhD Student - BioSci
Ansley Elkins, PhD Student - BioSci
Melissa Walker, MS Student - EnTox
Zach Padgett, MS Student - EnTox
Elizabeth Mulligan, Undergraduate
Sydney Schinkai, Undergraduate
Alexandra Suggs, Undergraduate
Chloe Schmidt, Undergraduate
Kylie Artosky, Undergraduate
Courses Taught
Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (BIOL 4930)
Cell Biology (BIOL 4610/6610)
Selected Publications
Rock KD, Folts L, Zierden HC, Marx-Rattner R, Leu A, Nugent BM, Bale TL. (In Review) Developmental transcriptomic patterns can be altered by transgenic overexpression of Uty. Scientific Reports.
https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2928137/v1
Rock KD, Polera ME, Guillette TC, McCord J, Dean K, Watters M, Stevens-Stewart D, Belcher SM. 2023 Companion Animals as Sentinels of Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substance (PFAS) Exposure and Associated Health Biomarkers in Gray’s Creek North Carolina. Environmental Science and Technology.
https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.est.3c01146
Rock KD, Starnes HM, Belcher SM. 2023 Reproductive Toxicology, Female. Encyclopedia of Toxicology.
https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-824315-2.00420-6
Belcher SM, Guillette MP, Robb F, Rock KD. (2022) Comparative Assessment of Blood Mercury in American Alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) from Coastal North Carolina and Florida. Ecotoxicology.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10646-022-02573-z
Starnes HM, Rock KD, Jackson TW, Belcher SM. (2022) A Critical Review and Meta-Analysis of Impacts of Per- and Polyfluorinated Substances on the Brain and Behavior. Frontiers in Toxicology.
https://doi.org/10.3389/ftox.2022.881584
Memberships
Society for Reproductive Investigation
Society of Toxicology
Women in Toxicology Specialty Section
Reproductive and Developmental Toxicology Specialty Section
Society of Toxicology: Southeastern Chapter
Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry
Carolinas Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry
American Elasmobranch Society
Outreach
The Repro-Eco Tox Lab is committed to developing and participating in public outreach and educational programs. For many people, science is inaccessible and difficult to understand.
By participating in scientific outreach we hope to inspire the next generation of scientist, promote diversity, equity, and inclusion, improve scientific literacy, and advocate for our local communities.
We recently had the opportunity to work with the Clemson Science Outreach Center and some amazing volunteers from the Dasgupta Lab to explore the scientific method with local elementary and high school students at the Littlejohn Community Center . We measured and compared locomotion of planarians exposed to different sources of caffeine, made some posters to present our data, and used some natural dyes to bring some color and artistic expression to our planarian t-shirts.
