Books By G. A. W. Rook, Christopher A. Lowry - Author

Graham A. W. Rook, BA MB BChir MD,  is emeritus Professor of Medical Microbiology at UCL (University College London). He was educated at the University of Cambridge and at St. Thomas' Hospital London. He became professor of medical microbiology at UCL in 1994. The theme of his research was initially the immunopathology of tuberculosis, but in recent years GR's focus has been the application of a Darwinian perspective to the effects on health of diminishing exposure to microorganisms from the natural environment, and of the changing composition of our commensal microbiota. GR coined the expression "Old Friends Hypothesis" to highlight a Darwinian re-interpretation of the hygiene hypothesis in 2003. Recently, in collaboration with neuroscientists and psychiatrists, this thinking has been applied to  psychiatric disorders that are accompanied by persistently raised biomarkers of inflammation and to the reduced stress resilience of people living in high-income countries. Thus GR's approach is interdiscipli