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 1/1/2025

    Messingham KN, Richards PT, Fleck A, Patel RA, Djurkovic M, Elliff J, Connell S, Crowe TP, Munoz Gonzalez J, Gourronc F, Dillard JA, Davey RA, Klingelhutz A, Shtanko O, Maury W. Multiple cell types support productive infection and dynamic translocation of infectious Ebola virus to the surface of human skin. Sci Adv. 2025 Jan 03; 11(1):eadr6140. PMID: 39742475.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 12/23/2024

    Bu F, Ye G, Morsheimer K, Mendoza A, Turner-Hubbard H, Herbst M, Spiller B, Wadzinski BE, Eaton B, Anantpadma M, Yang G, Liu B, Davey R, Li F. Discovery of Nanosota-EB1 and -EB2 as Novel Nanobody Inhibitors Against Ebola Virus Infection. PLoS Pathog. 2024 Dec; 20(12):e1012817. PMID: 39715280.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 12/16/2024

    Argade MD, Achi JG, Bott R, Morsheimer KM, Owen CD, Zielinski CA, Gaisin AM, Alvarez M, Moore TW, Bu F, Li F, Cameron M, Anantpadma M, Davey RA, Peet NP, Rong L, Gaisina IN. Guardians at the Gate: Optimization of Small Molecule Entry Inhibitors of Ebola and Marburg Viruses. J Med Chem. 2025 Jan 09; 68(1):135-155. PMID: 39680623.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 8/6/2024

    Durante D, Bott R, Cooper L, Owen C, Morsheimer KM, Patten JJ, Zielinski C, Peet NP, Davey RA, Gaisina IN, Rong L, Moore TW. N-Substituted Pyrrole-Based Heterocycles as Broad-Spectrum Filoviral Entry Inhibitors. J Med Chem. 2024 Aug 22; 67(16):13737-13764. PMID: 39169825.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 8/6/2024

    Keiser PT, Zhang W, Ricca M, Wacquiez A, Grimins A, Cencic R, Patten JJ, Shah P, Padilha E, Connor JH, Pelletier J, Lyons SM, Saeed M, Brown LE, Porco JA, Davey RA. Amidino-rocaglates (ADRs), a class of synthetic rocaglates, are potent inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 replication through inhibition of viral protein synthesis. Antiviral Res. 2024 Oct; 230:105976. PMID: 39117283.

    Read at: PubMed

View All 133 Publications:   View Full Profile in BUMC

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

Websites

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