By Holly Wiemers
LEXINGTON, Ky. (Oct. 31, 2024) – After more than a third of a century of infectious disease research at the University of Kentucky Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center, Tom Chambers hung up his lab coat Oct. 31.
Chambers, who has been at the Gluck Center within UK’s Martin-Gatton College of Agriculture, Food and Environment for 34 years studying equine infectious diseases, specifically equine influenza and equine herpesvirus, and who studied avian and human influenza viruses for 10 years before that, is one of the foremost global equine infectious disease experts.
He headed up one of the world’s three World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH, formerly OIE) Reference Laboratories for Equine Influenza since 1993. In that role he contributed to a better understanding of equine influenza to help improve prevention, detection and treatment, as well as more effective worldwide management in controlling disease spread.
Equine influenza is one of the leading causes of acute upper respiratory disease in horses worldwide. Chambers’ major interest was to study the evolution of equine influenza virus over time, as equine influenza periodically mutates into new strains. He was also a leader in the development of vaccines for equine influenza virus and was involved in infectious disease control and surveillance both nationally and internationally.
“I’ve been fascinated by influenza virus since my graduate school days. It looks like such a simple virus, but it still always surprises us with what it can do and where it will go,” Chambers said. Right now, our big fear is that the H5 influenza virus that has emerged in dairy cows will spread into horses. If it does, that brings my career around full circle. I studied H5 influenza in chickens under Rob Webster, ‘Mister Influenza,’ back at St. Jude in the 1980s. Maybe I am still immune.
“I was recruited to the Gluck Center by the late Jack Bryans and Peter Timoney, both former department chairs, not because I knew anything about horses but because I knew a lot about flu, and horses were getting the flu,” he added. “Somehow this match-up worked really well because I have really enjoyed working with horses and working with my colleagues at the Gluck Center. Thirty-four years ago, the complaint among horse people was that the flu vaccines were ‘like injecting water.’ Today, when used properly, the vaccines work pretty well! And I like to think I played a part in that.”
Chambers was a founding member of the International Equine Influenza Expert Surveillance Panel that makes recommendations on vaccine strain selection. He is a co-inventor of modified-live virus vaccines for equine influenza, one of which is marketed in the U.S. He also organized the Fifth International Society for Influenza and other Respiratory Virus Diseases (ISIRV) International Symposium on Neglected Influenza Viruses held in Lexington this past April, having previously co-organized the third symposium of the series. For more than 20 years, he has also been a member and co-chair of UK’s Institutional Biosafety Committee.
“Dr. Chambers’ reputation was garnered through the quality and impact of his work. All equine influenza viruses that were characterized for vaccine development emanated from his laboratory. He was also the OIE (now WOAH) equine influenza expert – meaning that he was the expert that the world turned to for guidance and expertise,” said Brett Sponseller, chair of the UK Department of Veterinary Science and director of the Gluck Center. “He was not self-promoting; he focused on the science – and yet, he has a worldwide reputation. That speaks volumes about his expertise and the impact he had in his field.”
Chambers earned his bachelor’s and doctorate from the University of Notre Dame. Prior to his time at UK, he was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Los Angeles, and a junior scientist at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.
Over the course of his career, he produced 78 original refereed articles with four additional articles submitted, wrote a book and was responsible for 26 book chapters and reviews. He also produced 38 non-refereed articles and is listed in 854 citations. He gave numerous presentations and served as a member of the Research Advisory Committee for the Grayson Jockey Club Research Foundation, Centers for Disease Control Special Emphasis Grants Review Panel and was on the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, National Institutes of Health, Special Emphasis Panel. He was a member of the American Society for Virology and the International Society for Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses.
In addition to his multi-decade impact in equine infectious disease research, Chambers’ legacy is also tied to the many graduate and undergraduate students he advised and mentored, whose rank includes more than 80, many of whom have gone on to establish influential careers of their own.
Chambers reflected on his decades of impact by acknowledging those who have worked alongside him.
“I want to thank my graduate students and post-docs, who over the years have probably taught me more than I taught them; and especially thank my staff research specialists, Lynn Tudor for the first half of my career and Stephanie Reedy for the second, who both were essential to my lab’s accomplishments.”
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Writer: Holly Wiemers, holly.wiemers@uky.edu
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Media Contact:
Holly Wiemers
holly.wiemers@uky.edu