Robert G. Webster, PhD Member, St. Jude Faculty
Rose Marie Thomas Chair
Departments: Infectious Diseases
Education:PhD
Research Interests:
The emergence and control of influenza viruses
Viral immunology
Dr. Webster’s interests include the structure and function of influenza virus proteins and the development of new vaccines and antivirals; the importance of influenza viruses in wild birds as a major reservoir of influenza viruses and their role in the evolution of new pandemic strains for humans and lower animals. His curriculum vitae contains over 400 original articles and reviews on influenza viruses. He has mentored many individuals who have been successful in contributing to our knowledge of influenza as an emerging pathogen.
Selected Publications
Webster RG. The importance of animal influenza for human disease. Vaccine (in press).
Webby RJ, Woolcock PR, Krauss SL, Webster RG. Reassortment and interspecies transmission of North American H6N2 influenza viruses. J Virol (in press).
Seo SH, Peiris M, Webster RG. Protective cross-reactive cellular immunity to lethal A/Goose/Guangdong/1/96-like H5N1 influenza virus is correlated with the proportion of pulmonary CD8+ T cells expressing gamma interferon. J Virol (in press).
Campitelli L, Fabiani C, Puzelli S, FioreTTi A, Foni E, De Marco A, Krauss, S, Webster RG, Donatelli I. H3N2 influenza viruses from domestic chickens in Italy: an increasing role for chickens in the ecoology of influenza? J Gen Virol 83:413-420, 2002.
Nedyalkova MS, Hayden FG, Webster RG, Gubareva LV. Accumulation of Defective Neurmaminidase (NA) Genes by Influenza A Viruses in the Presence of NA Inhibitors as a Marker of Reduced Dependence on NA. J Infect Dis 185:581-598, 2002.
Chin PS, Hoffmann E, Webby R, Webster RG, Guan Y, Peiris M, Shortridge KF. Molecular Evolution of H6 Influenza Viruses from Poultry in Southeastern China: Prevalence of H6N1 Influenza Viruses Possessing Seven A/HongKong/156/97 (H5N1)-like Genes in Poultry. J Virol 76:507-516, 2002.
Scholtissek C, Stech, J, Krauss S, Webster RG. Cooperation between Hemagglutinin of Avian Viruses and the Matrix Protein of Human Influenza A Viruses. J Virol 76:1781-1786, 2002.
Seo SH, Webster RG. Tumor Necrosis Factor Alpha Exerts Powerful Anti-Influenza Virus Effects in Lung Epithelial Cells. J Virol 76:1071-1076, 2002.
Webby RJ, Webster RG. Emergence of influenza A viruses. Phil. Trans of The Royal Society Biological Sciences 356:1817-1828, 2001.
Webster RG. Perspectives Virology: A molecular whodunit. Science 293:1773-1775, 2001.
Leneva IA, Goloubeva O, Fenton RJ, Tisdale M, Webster RG. Efficacy of Zanamivir against Avian Influenza A Viruses that possess Genes Encoding H5N1 Internal Proteins and are Pathogenic in Mammals. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 45:1216-1224, 2001.
Seo HS and Webster RG. Cross-reactive, cell-mediated immunity and protection of chickens from lethal H5N1 influenza virus infection in Hong Kong poultry markets. J Virol 75:2516-2525, 2001.
Webby RJ, Swenson SL, Krauss SL, Gerrish PJ, Goyal SM, Webster RG. Evolution of swine H3N2 influenza viruses in the United States. J Virol 74:8243-8251, 2000.
Hoffmann E, Neumann N, Kawaoka Y, Hobom G, Webster RG. A DNA transfection system for generation of influenza A virus from eight plasmids. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 97:6108-6113, 2000.
Guan Y, Shortridge KF, Krauss S, Webster RG. Molecular characterization of H9N2 influenza viruses: were they the donors of the “internal†genes of H5N1 viruses in Hong Kong? Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 96:9363-9367, 1999.
Webster RG. Potential advantages of DNA immunization for influenza epidemic and pandemic planning. Clin Infect Dis 28:225-229, 1999.
Shortridge KF, Zhou NN, Guan Y, Gao P, Ito T, Kawaoka Y, Kodihalli S, Krauss S, Markwell D, Murti KG, Norwood M, Senne D, Sims L, Takada A, Webster RG. Characterization of avian H5N1 influenza viruses from poultry in Hong Kong. Virology 252:331-342, 1998.
Claas ECJ, Osterhaus ADME, van Beek R, DeJong JC, Rimmelzwaan GF, Senne DA, Krauss S, Shortridge KF, Webster RG. Human influenza A H5N1 virus related to a highly pathogenic avian influenza virus. Lancet 351:472-477, 1998.
Webster R. Influenza: An emerging disease. Emerging Infectious Diseases 4:436-441, 1998.
De Jong JC, Claas CJ, Osterhaus ADME, Webster RG, Lim WL. A pandemic warning. Nature 389, 1997.
Last update: April 2003