Academician Flossie Wong-Staal passed away in the United States on July 8, 2020. She was 73 years old.

Dr. Wong-Staal dedicated her life’s work to the field of bacteriology and molecular Biology. Dr. Wong-Staal’s research focused on therapeutic approaches to detect and treat HIV, primarily by gene therapy, and she became the first scientist to clone HIV.

Dr. Wong-Staal worked with Robert Gallo, a pioneering figure in the study of AIDS, and discovered molecular evidence of micro-variation in HIV. Their findings led to the AIDS treatment known as “drug cocktails”, which made great contributions to studies of medical science and disease prevention.

Dr. Wong-Staal received worldwide attention after her research was published in 1983. She then started the Center for AIDS Research at the University of California San Diego. During her distinguished career, Dr. Wong-Staal received numerous honors. In 1990, at the age of 43, she headed the list of top 10 women in science based on data from the Science Citation Index for the period from 1981 to 1988. In addition, she was a recipient of the Asian Heritage Awards, was elected a Member of National Academy of Medicine, and was listed among the “Top 100 Living Geniuses” inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. Dr. Wong-Staal was elected Academia Sinica Academician in 1994.