Pioneering Molecular Virologist Flossie Wong-Staal Dies

The University of California, San Diego, researcher helped identify the HIV retrovirus responsible for AIDS and developed treatments still in use today.

Written byAmanda Heidt

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Obituary, retrovirus, HIV, AIDS, virology, molecular virology, NCI, UCSD, Flossie Wong-Staal

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Flossie Wong-Staal, a molecular virologist most famous for co-discovering and first cloning the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS, died July 8 of complications from pneumonia in La Jolla, California, at age 73.

Wong-Staal arrived at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in 1973 as a postdoctoral researcher in the lab of fellow virologist Robert Gallo, where she quickly became an essential contributor to the team’s work studying retroviruses. Together, Gallo and Wong-Staal published more than 100 papers in 20 years, according to an article by the NCI, and a 1990 article in The Scientist credits her as being the most-cited woman in science during the 1980s, earning 7,772 citations in academic journals. Wong-Staal was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame last year for her contributions to the field.

“Flossie was one of the best scientists I ever worked with. Without her, loads of stuff in our lab ...

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Amanda Heidt
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Amanda first began dabbling in scicom as a master’s student studying marine science at Moss Landing Marine Labs, where she edited the student blog and interned at a local NPR station. She enjoyed that process of demystifying science so much that after receiving her degree in 2019, she went straight into a second master’s program in science communication at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Formerly an intern at The Scientist, Amanda joined the team as a staff reporter and editor in 2021 and oversaw the publication’s internship program, assigned and edited the Foundations, Scientist to Watch, and Short Lit columns, and contributed original reporting across the publication. Amanda’s stories often focus on issues of equity and representation in academia, and she brings this same commitment to DEI to the Science Writers Association of the Rocky Mountains and to the board of the National Association of Science Writers, which she has served on since 2022. She is currently based in the outdoor playground that is Moab, Utah. Read more of her work at www.amandaheidt.com.
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