Robert A. Davey, PhD

Professor, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine

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.

Publications

  • Published 9/26/2025

    Donahue CJ, Kesari AS, Thakur N, Wang L, Stubbs SH, Williams CG, Sharma SB, 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. Nat Commun. 2025 Sep 26; 16(1):8485. PMID: 41006235.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 9/22/2025

    Uwase G, Luthra P, Vogel OA, Batra J, La Rosa BA, Sheehan KCF, Khatavkar O, Payton JE, Davey RA, Krogan NJ, Basler CF, Leung DW, Amarasinghe GK. Ebola virus VP35 NNLNS motif modulates viral RNA synthesis and MIB2-mediated signaling. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2025 Sep 30; 122(39):e2411961122. PMID: 40982696.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 9/12/2025

    Richards PT, Fleck AM, Patel R, Fakhimi M, Bohan D, Geoghegan-Barek K, Honko AN, Stolte AE, Plescia CB, Messingham CO, Connell SJ, Crowe TP, Gourronc FA, Carrion R, Griffiths A, Meyerholz DK, Klingelhutz AJ, Davey RA, Messingham KN, Maury W. Ebola virus' hidden target: virus transmission to and infection of skin. J Virol. 2025 Oct 23; 99(10):e0130025. PMID: 40938099.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 7/27/2025

    Uwase G, Luthra P, Vogel OA, Batra J, La Rosa BA, Sheehan KCF, Khatavkar O, Payton JE, Davey RA, Krogan NJ, Basler CF, Leung DW, Amarasinghe GK. Ebola virus VP35 NNLNS motif modulates viral RNA synthesis and MIB2-mediated signaling. bioRxiv. 2025 Jul 27. PMID: 40777377.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 7/24/2025

    Carlson RJ, Patten JJ, Stefanakis G, Soong BY, Radhakrishnan A, Singh A, Thakur N, Sheehan KCF, Amarasinghe GK, Hacohen N, Basler CF, Leung DW, Uhler C, Davey RA, Blainey PC. Single-cell image-based screens identify host regulators of Ebola virus infection dynamics. Nat Microbiol. 2025 Aug; 10(8):1989-2002. PMID: 40707832.

    Read at: PubMed

View All 141 Publications:   View Full Profile in BUMC

Other Positions

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

Websites

Education

  • University of Adelaide, PhD
  • University of Adelaide, BSc
  • University of Adelaide, BSc

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