Robert Gordon Webster | |
|---|---|
| Born | 5 July 1932 Balclutha, New Zealand |
| Alma mater | University of Otago Australian National University |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Virology |
| Institutions | St. Jude Children's Research Hospital |
Robert Gordon Webster (b. 1932) is an avian influenza authority who correctly posited that pandemic strains of flu arise from genes in flu virus strains in nonhumans; for example, via a reassortment of genetic segments (antigenic shift) between viruses in humans and nonhumans (especially birds) rather than by mutations (antigenic drift) in annual human flu strains.[1]