Robert A Davey, PhD

Professor, Virology, Immunology & Microbiology

Robert Davey
617.358.9166
620 Albany Street

Biography

Dr. Robert Davey, PhD is a currently a Professor of Microbiology at the Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine. Dr. Davey received his doctorate in Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Adelaide in Australia. He continued his training as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and then at the Division of Hematology, both with Dr. James Cunningham at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Davey’s first academic appointment was as an Instructor in Medicine at Harvard. He then held an Assistant Professor position which he got promoted to Adjunct Associate Professor at the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Texas Medical Branch.

Dr. Davey was also a Ewing Halsell Scholar and Scientist at the Department of Virology and Immunology at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute. As a Scientist at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute, Dr. Davey’s work was focused on identification of cellular factors important for establishing infection by filovirus and bunyaviruses. His work has culminated in a deeper understanding of the entry and cell signaling pathways that are used by these viruses to penetrate the cell membrane and establish infection. His work with Ebolavirus has been published in the high-impact journals PLoS Pathogens, PNAS and a new article on host factor dependence in Science that was featured on the cover page. Dr. Davey’s group works collaboratively with a number of groups providing sophisticated molecular biology and cell biology techniques for the study of pathogenic viruses including Ebolavirus for which the lab mainly works. He has developed high throughput screening techniques for Ebolavirus. He also performs contract work testing drugs and compounds for ebolavirus infection inhibition. His team is well trained in ABSL4 procedures and have been working with Ebolavirus since 2006.

From 2015-2017, Dr. Davey held the role of Interim Chair in the Department of Virology and Immunology at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute. He is also Director of ABSL4 at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute.

Other Positions

  • Faculty, National Emerging Infectious Disease Lab, Boston University
  • Member, Evans Center for Interdisciplinary Biomedical Research, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
  • Graduate Faculty (Primary Mentor of Grad Students), Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, Graduate Medical Sciences

Publications

  • Published on 2/6/2024

    Xu D, Powell AE, Utz A, Sanyal M, Do J, Patten JJ, Moliva JI, Sullivan NJ, Davey RA, Kim PS. Design of universal Ebola virus vaccine candidates via immunofocusing. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2024 Feb 13; 121(7):e2316960121. PMID: 38319964.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 2/2/2024

    Donahue CJ, Kesari A, Thakur N, Wang L, Hulsey-Stubbs S, Williams CG, Kirby CD, Leung DW, Aryal UK, Basler CF, LaCount DJ, Davey RA. A protein-proximity screen reveals Ebola virus co-opts the mRNA decapping complex through the scaffold protein EDC4. Res Sq. 2024 Feb 02. PMID: 38352529.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 1/4/2024

    Bird GH, Patten JJ, Zavadoski W, Barucci N, Godes M, Moyer BM, Owen CD, DaSilva-Jardine P, Neuberg DS, Bowen RA, Davey RA, Walensky LD. A stapled lipopeptide platform for preventing and treating highly pathogenic viruses of pandemic potential. Nat Commun. 2024 Jan 04; 15(1):274. PMID: 38177138.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 10/17/2023

    Xu D, Powell AE, Utz A, Sanyal M, Do J, Patten JJ, Moliva JI, Sullivan NJ, Davey RA, Kim PS. Design of universal Ebola virus vaccine candidates via immunofocusing. bioRxiv. 2023 Oct 17. PMID: 37904982.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 10/11/2023

    Aguilar-Briseño JA, Elliff JM, Patten JJ, Wilson LR, Davey RA, Bailey AL, Maury WJ. Effect of Interferon Gamma on Ebola Virus Infection of Primary Kupffer Cells and a Kupffer Cell Line. Viruses. 2023 Oct 11; 15(10). PMID: 37896854.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 8/19/2023

    Wu C, Wagner ND, Moyle AB, Feng A, Sharma N, Stubbs SH, Donahue C, Davey RA, Gross ML, Leung DW, Amarasinghe GK. Disruption of Ebola NP0VP35 Inclusion Body-like Structures reduce Viral Infection. J Mol Biol. 2023 Oct 15; 435(20):168241. PMID: 37598728.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 7/22/2023

    Wu C, Wagner N, Moyle AB, Feng A, Sharma N, Stubbs SH, Donahue C, Davey R, Gross ML, Leung DW, Amarasinghe GK. The Ebola NP0VP35 Complex Phase Separates into Inclusion Body-Like Structures. Microsc Microanal. 2023 Jul 22; 29(29 Suppl 1):941. PMID: 37613387.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 4/8/2023

    Zou C, Yoon H, Park PMC, Patten JJ, Pellman J, Carreiro J, Tsai JM, Li YD, Roy Burman SS, Donovan KA, Gasser J, Sperling AS, Nowak RP, Fischer ES, Davey RA, Ebert BL, Slabicki M. The human E3 ligase RNF185 is a regulator of the SARS-CoV-2 envelope protein. iScience. 2023 May 19; 26(5):106601. PMID: 37095859.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 1/27/2023

    Rayaprolu V, Fulton BO, Rafique A, Arturo E, Williams D, Hariharan C, Callaway H, Parvate A, Schendel SL, Parekh D, Hui S, Shaffer K, Pascal KE, Wloga E, Giordano S, Negron N, Ni M, Copin R, Atwal GS, Franklin M, Boytz RM, Donahue C, Davey R, Baum A, Kyratsous CA, Saphire EO. Structure of the Inmazeb cocktail and resistance to Ebola virus escape. Cell Host Microbe. 2023 Feb 08; 31(2):260-272.e7. PMID: 36708708.

    Read at: PubMed
  • Published on 12/23/2022

    Boytz R, Seitz S, Gaudiano E, Patten JJ, Keiser PT, Connor JH, Sharpe AH, Davey RA. Inactivation of Ebola Virus and SARS-CoV-2 in Cell Culture Supernatants and Cell Pellets by Gamma Irradiation. Viruses. 2022 Dec 23; 15(1). PMID: 36680083.

    Read at: PubMed

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