Honoring distinguished career, Robert Webster, PhD, elected fellow of AAAS

With a career spanning more than 56 years at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Robert Webster, PhD, Emeritus faculty member, has been recognized as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). AAAS is the world’s largest general scientific society and publisher of the Science family of journals. With more than 50 years of influenza research and 800 published articles, Webster has been a key figure in influenza research since joining St. Jude in 1968. He will be formally inducted during the organization’s annual Fellows Forum May 29, in Washington DC. 

Webster is the most recent St. Jude faculty member selected as an AAAS Fellow, following Hongbo Chi, PhD, Department of Immunology chair and holder of the Robert G. Webster Endowed Chair in Immunology, a position named in honor of Webster. Other St. Jude honorees include: Thirumala-Devi Kanneganti, PhD, Victor Torres, PhD, Douglas Green, PhD, Charles Rock, PhD, Mary Relling, PharmD, Guillermo Oliver, PhD, Charles Sherr, MD, PhD, James R. Downing, MD, Peter Doherty, PhD, Ching Hon Pui, MD, Joseph Simone, MD and William Evans, PharmD. 

“To be recognized by AAAS is a great honor, and it is a reflection of the research we have done at St. Jude to understand the reservoir and spread of avian influenza,” Webster said. “There remains a pressing need to better understand these viruses, which are constantly changing in ways we could have never anticipated. It is more important than ever for us to continue to learn as much as possible.” 

Dating back to 1874, election as an AAAS Fellow is a lifetime honor. AAAS Fellows are selected based on their efforts to advance science or its applications. Notable honorees include: W.E.B DuBois, Ellen Ochoa, Steven Chu, Grace Hopper, Alan Alda, Mae Jemison and Ayanna Howard. Webster is considered one of the most influential avian influenza researchers in the world, having identified wild birds and waterfowl as the virus’ natural reservoir. This research also determined influenza can be spread from birds to humans and other mammals, leading to the development of worldwide surveillance and greater understanding of the virus.  

“Our world-class influenza program at St. Jude is here because of Rob Webster. He helped establish the St. Jude-WHO partnership that led to us becoming a Collaborating Centre for Influenza,” said James R. Downing, MD, president and CEO of St. Jude. “Rob built his career by getting out into the field. He collected samples, brought back data, sequenced and analyzed it, and traveled around the world following birds to understand where influenza spreads and how new variants arise. His work has had a direct impact in protecting immunocompromised children at St. Jude and safeguarding children worldwide from pandemic threats.”  

A legacy in influenza research begins 

Webster joined St. Jude to protect immunocompromised patients undergoing cancer treatment from infections including flu and the common cold. This sparked his journey to discover the origin of influenza and how it spread. His initial work led to the establishment of what is now the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for the Studies on the Ecology of Influenza in Animals and Birds, one of seven Collaborating Centres in the world. Webster has traveled to multiple countries, including China, Canada, Australia and South Africa to find and sample birds that carry the flu virus in order to identify potential strains that could infect humans.  

Webster led research that discovered how these wild waterfowl, specifically ducks, carry influenza strains without symptoms. One remarkable moment in his career came in 1996 when the first case of avian flu was discovered to have infected and killed a child in Hong Kong. Webster personally went to Hong Kong that year to test samples and confirm the outbreak. These events led to funding from the National Institutes of Health and the creation of the first of six National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Centers of Excellence for Influenza Research and Response (CEIRR). Today, St. Jude still leads multiple surveillance efforts in the U.S. and around the world. 

Continuing influenza research at St. Jude 

Webster’s legacy at St. Jude continues through the work of Richard Webby, PhD, Department of Host-Microbe Interactions, who now leads the WHO Collaborating Centre. Webby is involved with the annual selection of influenza vaccines around the world and serves as co-director of the St. Jude CEIRR with Stacey Schultz-Cherry, PhD, who is deputy director of the WHO Collaborating Centre. Their continued work includes surveillance efforts in wetlands around the world.  

“St. Jude was responsible for getting these programs started,” Webster said. “But the work being done now is more than we ever could have imagined in the beginning.” 

A native of New Zealand, Webster earned his PhD from the Australian National University at Canberra, and his Master of Science and Doctor of Science degrees from Otago University in New Zealand. Webster has numerous awards and honors including the Mendel Medal from Villanova University and the Leeuwenhoek Medal from the Royal Society of London as well as the Bristol-Myers Squibb Award for Distinquished Achievement in Infectious Diseases. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, an honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of New Zealand and a Fellow of the Royal Society of London. In 2018, he published Flu Hunter: Unlocking the Secrets of a Virus, an autobiographical account of his career in influenza research.