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 6/12/2026

    Close BJ, La Rosa B, Ong C, Anantpadma M, Elkabbany AH, Stubbs SH, Davisson VJ, Davey RA. In silico prioritization and cheminformatics identify structurally diverse small-molecule inhibitors of Lassa virus glycoprotein-mediated membrane fusion. SLAS Discov. 2026 Jun 12; 42:100319. PMID: 42285356.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 5/26/2026

    Walker SM, Loutan AJ, Tchesnokov EP, Kocincova D, Gordon CJ, Escobedo RA, Jackson N, Vogel OA, Morsheimer K, Park S, Gharpure A, Urbano I, Heacock M, Cheng Z, Pathak K, Wolff KC, Huerta L, Bakowski MA, Riva L, Gupta AK, Yu C, Das K, Martinez-Sobrido L, Basler CF, Davey R, Wilson IA, Ward AB, Chanda S, Chatterjee AK, Götte M. Substrate and target selectivity of 4'-fluoroadenosine against viral and host polymerases. bioRxiv. 2026 May 26. PMID: 42244653.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 3/31/2026

    Pemba CM, Sakurai Y, Kurosaki Y, Patten JJ, Amalia E, Inaoka DK, Davey RA, Shiba T, Kita K, Yasuda J. Antiviral activities of ascofuranone and naphthoquinone derivatives against Ebola virus. Antiviral Res. 2026 May; 249:106400. PMID: 41933619.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 1/27/2026

    Bu F, Ye G, Morsheimer K, Turner-Hubbard H, Eaton B, Anantpadma M, Bheemanapally K, Tan C, Davey R, Li F. A highly potent and broadly accessible bispecific nanobody for the treatment of ebola virus infections. PLoS Pathog. 2026 Jan; 22(1):e1013878. PMID: 41592114.

    Read at: PubMed

  • Published 1/20/2026

    Sharafi M, Teh WP, Green J, Charifson PS, Wang J, Pemberton OA, Nevins AM, Lye M, Liu X, Varca AC, Owen CD, Morsheimer K, Wacquiez A, Dawson C, Steuber C, Smith J, Girardi NM, Magin RS, Marto JA, Saeed M, Davey RA, Hardee D, Ng TI, Namchuk MN, Buhrlage SJ. Structure-Guided Design of Potent and Selective Covalent Inhibitors Targeting the SARS-CoV-2 Papain-like Protease. J Med Chem. 2026 Feb 12; 69(3):2197-2214. PMID: 41557701.

    Read at: PubMed

View All 147 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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