Flossie Wong-Staal was a molecular biologist and virologist. She was the first scientist to clone HIV and determine the function of its genes, which was a major step in proving that HIV is the cause of AIDS

Flossie Wong-Staal was born in China and moved to the United States via Hong Kong. After attending the University of California in Los Angeles, she began working at the National Cancer Institute. In 1983, Wong-Staal and her colleagues, discovered the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes AIDS. Wong-Staal was the first person to clone HIV, which enabled the creation of a genetic map of the virus and ultimately to a blood test for it.

Wong-Staal later co-founded itherX Pharmaceuticals Inc. where she served as chief scientific officer and executive vice president of research and development.