Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Robert Gallo
Robert C. Gallo (born March 23, 1937) is a U.S. biomedical researcher. He is best known for his role in identifying the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) as the infectious agent responsible for the Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) although his role in this discovery remains controversial.
Gallo was born in Waterbury, Connecticut to a working-class family of Italian immigrants. He earned a B.S. degree in biology in 1959 from Providence College and received an M.D. from the Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1963. After completing his medical residency and internship at the University of Chicago, he became a researcher at the National Cancer Institute. Gallo's choice of profession was likely influenced by the early death of his sister from leukemia, a disease to which he initially dedicated much of his research.
After listening to a talk by biologist David Baltimore, Gallo became interested in the study of retroviruses. In 1974 he identified the first retrovirus in humans: the "human T-cell leukemia virus," or HTLV. In 1984, Gallo and his collaborators published a paper in the research journal Science arguing that HIV, a retrovirus that had recently been identified in AIDS patients by Luc Montagnier and his collaborators at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, France, was the cause of AIDS. Since then, there has been considerable and often acrimonious controversy over the priority for the discovery of HIV, including accusations that Gallo improperly used a sample of HIV produced at the Institut Pasteur. Today it is generally agreed that Montagnier's group was the first to identify HIV, but that Gallo's group contributed significantly to demonstrating that it causes AIDS. Furthermore, the work of Montagnier had relied on a technique previously developed by Gallo for growing T cells in the laboratory. This technique became the basis for HIV testing of blood samples. The two scientists continued to dispute each other's claims until 1985, when they finally agreed to share credit for the discovery of HIV.
Dr. Gallo has received criticism from the gay community over issues regarding AIDS, principally based on views expressed about him in the book and movie And the Band Played On, written by Randy Shilts.
Gallo is currently the director of the Institute for Human Virology, an institution affiliated with the University of Maryland, Baltimore.
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