Rory Marcus Marks, MD

Dr. Marks is an Associate Professor of Internal Medicine, received his undergraduate and graduate medical education at the University of New South Wales in Sydney, Australia (1970-1976), trained in Internal Medicine, Clinical Immunology and Pathology from 1977-1986 and was a post-doctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Pathology at the University of Michigan from 1987-1990 before his appointment in the Division of Rheumatology. Dr. Marks is Board certified in both Internal Medicine and Rheumatology, and maintains his original certification in Clinical Immunology and in Pathology. Dr. Marks’s research program is focused on vascular biology. Most recently, Dr. Marks has become interested in the targeting of the microvasculature by hemorrhagic fever viruses, and has been investigating mechanisms that one of these viruses (dengue virus) uses to bind to and infect target cells, including vascular endothelial cells. Dr. Marks research is currently supported by a VA Merit Award. Dr. Marks maintains a strong interest in clinical care and Fellow education, including an interest in the teaching and quantitative evaluation of the Core competencies

Vascular disease

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Dr. Marks' research is focused on understanding the role of the vasculature in mediating inflammation, and in causing tissue injury in autoimmune diseases. He is exploiting viruses that exhibit vascular tropism to identify novel molecules expressed by vascular endothelial cells. Dengue virus causes a febrile illness in humans that is associated with considerable vascular pathology. Dr. Marks hypothesized that identification of the target cell receptor used by dengue virus could lead to identification of novel vascular endothelial cell receptors. He identified the dengue receptor on some cells as a novel highly sulfated form heparan sulfate glycosaminoglycan. However, the endothelial cell receptor is a distinct structure, an o-linked mucinous glycoprotein. He also identified 3 distinct glycan-binding motifs in the dengue virus envelope protein, and considerable evidence indicates that these regions account for target cell binding activity. Compounds have been identified that inhibit dengue virus infection of target cells. Dr. Marks is now pursuing this project both as a broad investigation into dengue virus pathobiology, as well as attempting to fully characterize and identify the vascular endothelial cell receptor for dengue virus.