Robert Lamb Kenneth F. Burgess Professor

Research Summary:

Robert Lamb's laboratory studies the structure, replication and assembly of influenza virus and paramyxoviruses, a family of viruses that includes mumps virus, measles virus, parainfluenza virus 1-5, Newcastle disease virus, canine distemper virus and Hendra and Nipah virus. In particular the laboratory studies the structural mechanism by which paramyxoviruses causes virus-cell and cell-cell fusion and how influenza virus and paramyxoviruses assembly and bud from the plasma membrane of virus-infected cell.

HHMI Profile

Selected Publications:

Fusion activation by a headless parainfluenza virus 5 hemagglutinin-neuraminidase stalk suggests a modular mechanism for triggering.  Bose, S., A. Zokarkar, B.D. Welch, G.P. Leser, T.S. Jardetzky and R.A. Lamb.  (2012).  Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 109, E2525-E2634.  PMCID: PMC3465404

Influenza A virus uses intercellular connections to spread to neighboring cells.  Roberts, K.L., B. Manicassamy and R.A. Lamb.  (2015).  J. Virol. 89, 1537-1549.  PMCID: PMC4300760

Structure of the paramyxovirus parainfluenza virus 5 nucleoprotein-RNA complex.   Alayyoubi, M., G.P. Leser, C.A. Kors and R.A. Lamb.  (2015).  Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA  112, E1792-E1799.  PMCID: PMC4394319

Immobilization of the N-terminal helix stabilizes prefusion paramyxovirus fusion proteins.   Song, A.S., T.A. Poor, L.A. Abriata, T.S. Jardetzky, M. Dal Peraro and R.A. Lamb.  (2016).  Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 113, E3844-E3851.  PMCID: PMC4941503.

Lateral organizationof influenza virus proteins in the budzone region of the plasma membrane.   Leser, G.P. and R.A. Lamb.  (2017).  J. Virol. 91, e02104-e02116.  PMCID: PMC5391459.

Selected Honors:

Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology, 1997

Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1999

President, American Society for Virology, July 2001-July 2002

Member, National Academy of Science, 2003

Fellow, American Academy of Arts & Sciences, 2007