Robert Webster (virologist)

Robert Gordon Webster
Born (1932-07-05) 5 July 1932 (age 92)
Balclutha, New Zealand
Alma materUniversity of Otago
Australian National University
Scientific career
FieldsVirology
InstitutionsSt. 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]

  1. ^ Mandavilli, Apoorva (1 December 2003). "Profile: Robert Webster". Nature Medicine. 9 (12): 1445. doi:10.1038/nm1203-1445. ISSN 1546-170X. S2CID 28937372.