The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2008 awarded Harald zur Hausen, "for his discovery of human papilloma viruses causing cervical cancer" and Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier, "for their discovery of human immunodeficiency virus".

Harald zur Hausen Harald zur Hausen, (born March 11, 1936) is a German medical scientist and professor emeritus. He has done research on cancer of the cervix, where he discovered the role of papilloma viruses, for which he received the Nobel Prize in Medicine 2008 along with Françoise Barré-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier.

Zur Hausen studied Medicine at the Universities of Bonn, Hamburg and Düsseldorf and received a Doctorate degree (Dr. med.) in 1960. After that he became an Medical Assistant and two years later on, he joined the Institute for Micro Biology at the University of Düsseldorf as a scientific assistant. After three and a half years, he moved to Philadelphia and worked at the Virus Laboratories of the Children's Hospital. He became an Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1969 he became a regular teaching and researching Professor at the University of Würzburg, where he worked at the Institute for Virology. In 1972 he moved to the then-founded combined University of Nuremburg-Erlangen, in 1977 he moved on to the University of Freiburg (Breisgau).

From 1983 until 2003 zur Hausen served as a chairman and member of the scientific advisory board of the german cancer research center (DKFZ). He also is editor-in-chief of the International Journal of Cancer.

Françoise Barré-Sinoussi Françoise Barré-Sinoussi (born 30.7.1947 in Paris, France) was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2008 together with Luc Montagnier for their discovery of the HIV virus.

Luc Montagnier Luc Montagnier (born 1932 in Chabris, France) is a French virologist and joint recipient of the 2008 Nobel Prize for Medicine. In 1982 he was asked for assistance with establishing the possible underlying retroviral cause of a mysterious new syndrome, AIDS, by Willy Rozenbaum, a clinician at the Hôpital Bichat hospital in Paris. Rozenbaum's role was vital, as he had been openly speculating at scientific meetings that the cause of the disease might be a retrovirus, and it was from a lymph node biopsy taken from one of Rozenbaum's patients that the breakthrough was to come. Jean-Claude Chermann's role was too vital.

Luc Montagnier is the co-founder of the World Foundation for AIDS Research and Prevention and co-directs the Program for International Viral Collaboration. He has received more than 20 major awards, including the Commandeur de la Légion d'Honneur, the Lasker Award (1986), the Gairdner Award (1987) and 2008 Nobel Prize winner for his work. (Wikipedia)

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