Dr. Rohrer joined the faculty at the USA College of Medicine in 1979 as assistant professor of microbiology and immunology. He was promoted to associate professor in 1985.
An avid cancer investigator and talented and rigorous immunologist, Dr. Rohrer collaborated with the late USA researcher Dr. Joseph Coggin and retired USA researcher Dr. Adel L. Barsoum for close to 25 years.
During his tenure at USA, Dr. Rohrer was awarded more than $1 million in research grants by the National Institutes of Health to study various aspects of myeloma as well as the development of a vaccine that holds potential for use in cancer treatment.
In addition, Dr. Rohrer was a member of several university committees, including the Diversity, Recruitment and Enrichment for Admission into Medicine (DREAM) program committee, which provides a comprehensive learning experience for economically and educationally disadvantaged premedical students during the two summers prior to their junior and senior undergraduate college years.
He was also a member of the faculty senate at USA from 1985-1988 and 1990-1993 and the College of Medicine Cancer Coordinating Committee from 2002-2005.
Since 1979, Dr. Rohrer has taught immunology and virology lectures to medical students in the medical microbiology and immunology course. He was also involved in teaching students in both the Biomedical Enrichment and Recruitment (BEAR) program and DREAM program at USA.
Dr. Rohrer also served as a reviewer for The Journal of Molecular and Cellular Immunology and the National Science Foundation.
A native of Kansas City, Mo., Dr. Rohrer graduated with a bachelor’s degree in zoology from the University of Kansas in 1969 and received his Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Kansas in 1975. He carried out his postdoctoral studies in pathology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Dr. Rohrer was awarded a National Cancer Institute Postdoctoral Fellowship and a Leukemia Society of America Special Fellowship during his postdoctoral training.
Visitation will take place Oct. 28, 2011, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at Radney Funeral Home, 3155 Dauphin St., Mobile, Ala., 36606. A funeral service will follow at 6:30 p.m.
