Celebrating Women’s History Month: A Tribute to the Women Who Changed HIV Research

March is Women’s History Month, and it’s the perfect moment to shine a light on the incredible women who’ve helped transform our understanding of HIV and STIs. Their work didn’t just push science forward, it saved lives and reshaped public health.

Let’s talk about a few of these game‑changers.

Dr. Helene Gayle stepped into the HIV research space in the late ’80s, guiding major CDC programs and shaping global HIV prevention efforts. Her leadership helped drive some of the earliest coordinated responses to the epidemic!

Dr. Flossie Wong‑Staal made history as the first scientist to clone and map HIV, which basically gave researchers the blueprint they needed to develop today’s treatments.

Dr. Janet Rideout, whose work helped identify AZT as the first major HIV treatment option. That discovery changed everything for patients in the 1980s and beyond.

Women also helped us understand how HIV spreads. In the early ’90s, Tessie McNeely and Sharon Wahl helped discover SLPI, a protein that blocks HIV transmission through saliva, a key finding that calmed a lot of fear and misinformation.

Of course, we can’t forget the advocates, either. People like Katrina Haslip fought to make sure women were fully recognized in HIV care and policy, pushing the government to acknowledge women‑specific HIV conditions so thousands could access proper care and benefits.

And projects like “I’m Still Surviving” help ensure women living with HIV, especially women of color, have the space to tell their own stories and shape the way history remembers them.

These women didn’t just contribute to research; they changed the direction of the entire field. And this month, we honor them by remembering just how much their courage, leadership, and brilliance continue to move us forward.