French virologist Luc Montagnier is best remembered for his discovery of the AIDS-causing human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which won him the prestigious Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2008. Starting his research career in Paris, he later conducted significant research in Glasgow. In 1983, Montagnier, along with Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and their team of scientists, discovered a retrovirus that affected human immunity and which was eventually named the HIV and identified as the cause of AIDS. Though he was dragged into a clash with US scientist Robert C. Gallo, who had made an identical discovery, Montagnier was eventually credited with the discovery of HIV. Apart from the Nobel Prize, he won numerous other awards and recognitions for his work. He is remembered for his association with the Pasteur Institute of Paris as a researcher and an academician. He also established the World Foundation for AIDS Research and Prevention.
