Dr. Rohr's research is focused on natural product drugs, i.e. antibiotics, anticancer drugs and drugs against bone diseases. It includes the elucidation of complex multi-step biosynthetic pathways, carried out by bacteria, fungi or plants, with particular emphasis on enzyme mechanisms. The results of these biosynthetic studies are used to generate modified natural product drugs through genetic engineering (pathway engineering, combinatorial biosynthesis). Used techniques in the Rohr-laboratory include isolation and structure elucidation of natural products, incorporation experiments with isotope-labeled biosynthetic precursors, NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, and recombinant DNA techniques for the targeted interruption or recombination of genes of the biosynthetic pathways. Newer aspects of the research include (i) generation and testing of new antitumor drugs and drugs against bone diseases, (ii) the investigation of biochemical mechanisms of anticancer drugs, and (iii) discovery and investigation of new antibacterials. Dr. Rohr's publications (ca. 190) can be found in biochemical and chemical journals, such as Angew. Chem., Biochemistry, Chem. Biol., ChemBioChem, Chem. Commun., Gene, J. Am. Chem. Soc., J. Bacteriol., J. Biol. Chem., J. Nat. Prod., J. Org. Chem., Microbiol., Mol. Gen. Genet., Nat. Prod. Rep. etc. Before joining University of Kentucky, Dr. Rohr was Assistant and Associate Professor at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry of the University of Göttingen, Germany and Associate Professor at the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences of the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, SC.

Rohr Jurgen, Panchuk R R, Lehka L V, Berger W, Stoika R S. (2016). Mitochondria do not play a major role in landomycin E-induced ROS burst and circumvention of multiple drug resistance in HL-60 leukemia cells. Biopolymers & Cell, 32(3), 190-202. Rohr Jurgen, Hou Caixia, Weidenbach Stevi , Cano Kristin E, Wang Zhonghua, Mitra Prithiba, Ivanov Dimitri, Tsodikov Oleg V. (2016). Structures of mithramycin analogues bound to DNA and implications for targeting transcription factor FLI1. Nucleic Acids Res, 44(18), 8990-9004. Rohr Jurgen, Blundell Ross D, Williams Simon J, Arras Samantha, Chitty Jessica L, Blake Kirsten L, Ericsson Daniel J, Tibrewal Nidhi , Koh Andre E, Kappler Ulrike, Robertson Avril, Butler Mark S, Cooper Matthew A, Kobe Bostjan, Fraser James A. (2016). Disruption of de Novo Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP) Biosynthesis Abolishes Virulence in Cryptococcus neoformans. ACS Infectious Diseases, 2(9), 651-663.