Dr. Beatrice Hahn received her M.D. from the University of Munich Medical School in Munich, Germany. After completing a postdoctoral fellowship with Robert C. Gallo (who described HIV as the agent responsible for AIDS) at The National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, MD, Dr. Hahn joined the University of Alabama, Birmingham faculty in the Department of Medicine. In addition to her faculty appointment, Dr. Hahn serves as a Senior Scientist in the UAB Comprehensive Cancer Center. She is also the Associate Director for Program in Development and Resources in the Center for AIDS Research, also at UAB.

Dr. Hahn’s work has been instrumental in understanding the origins and evolution of HIV and SIV (simian immunodeficiency virus), and her recent co-discovery of an HIV-1 group virus in African wild gorillas helps shed light on the mechanism(s) of transmission of HIV precursors to humans. In 2002, Dr. Hahn was named one of the top 50 women in science by Discover Magazine.