One of the prime goals of the Urologic Oncology Branch (UOB) is the identification and characterization of the tumorigenesis pathways of human genitourinary malignancies. Dr. Vocke is involved in many facets of these studies, including the genetic, genomic, and molecular characterization of renal tumors and other  benign and malignant lesions from known renal cancer syndromes including VHL, BHD, HRLCC, HPRC, SDH Kidney Cancer, and renal cancer involving germline mutations in the BAP1 and PTEN genes, as well as tumors from patients with no germline mutation in the known renal cancer syndrome genes.  She is also involved in the discovery of novel genes that cause hereditary renal cancer syndromes using both whole genome/next-gen and standard sequencing techniques.

As Head of the Tissue Processing/Sequencing Core (TPSC), Dr. Vocke oversees the  collection, handling, and storage of every  biospecimen, such as tissue and blood, generated within the UOB. She coordinates the provision of samples for UOB researchers and outside collaborators to utilize in their investigative research, including for clinical trials of targeted molecular therapeutic agents. In addition, the core establishes short-term and long-term cell lines and mouse xenograft models from selected samples. Many of the lines have been described in published papers, and have been requested from researchers worldwide.