AIDS researcher to speak at UConn commencement

STORRS, Conn. (AP) — A biomedical researcher best known for his co-discovery of HIV will be the commencement speaker at the University of Connecticut's graduate school ceremonies this year.

Dr. Robert Gallo will speak to graduates on May 5 inside Gampel Pavilion.

The Waterbury native and colleagues conducted groundbreaking research into HIV — the virus that causes AIDS — and developed the first blood test for the infection.

Gallo and his team also found 1996 that a natural compound known as chemokines can block the HIV virus and halt the progression of AIDS.

Gallo is the founding director of the Institute of Human Virology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. He also spent 30 years at the National Cancer Institute as head of its Laboratory of Tumor Cell Biology.