Dr. Webley is an Associate Professor of Microbiology and the Director of PreMed/PreHealth Advising at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. Webley completed his undergraduate degree in Medical Technology at Northern Caribbean University, Mandeville JA. He earned a MS degree and later the Ph.D. in Microbiology at UMass Amherst with expertise in immunology, pathogenic bacteriology, and host-pathogen interactions.

Dr. Webley is a Fulbright Scholar, a recipient of the Distinguished Teaching Award in recognition for outstanding teaching accomplishments. Dr. Webley serves on the editorial boards of the International Journal of Vaccines and Immunization, the Journal of Medical Microbiology & Diagnosis, Vaccines and Microbiology & Experimentation. He is a member of the International Society for Vaccines, American Society for Microbiology and the Chlamydia Basic Research Society.

His research focuses on infectious disease mechanisms and the role of specific infections in chronic diseases. Specifically, the Webley Lab has pioneered work in Chlamydia vaccine development and the role of pathogenic microbes in asthma initiation and exacerbation. The Webley Lab uses immunoinformatics and gas vesicle nanoparticles of Halobacteria as a platform for multi-subunit antigen display and have confirmed that this system is a potentially effective display and delivery platform for antigens of chlamydial vaccine antigens. His laboratory was the first to culture Chlamydia from bronchoalveolar lavage samples taken from pediatric patients with chronic, severe asthma and has since shown that early life chlamydial infection increases the risk for asthma onset and results in a unique asthma phenotype. His recent work has demonstrated the efficacy of antibiotics in treating a subset of severe asthmatics. His published work has made significant contributions to the fields of microbiology, vaccinology, allergy and immunology.