Anna Marie Skalka

Anna Marie (Ann) Skalka (née Sturn) is an American virologist, molecular biologist and geneticist who is professor emerita and senior advisor to the president at the Fox Chase Cancer Center. She is a co-author of a textbook on virology, Principles of Virology.

Early life and education She was born in around 1938 in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City, the first child of immigrants Edward Heinrich Sturn and Arcelia (Celia) Del Valle. She attended Grover Cleveland High School in Ridgewood, Queens. Both parents worked at the nearby Pfizer production plant, and she also took a summer laboratory job at the plant. She held the W. W. Smith Chair in Cancer Research and also served as senior vice president for basic science and director of the Institute for Cancer Research at Fox Chase.

Skalka has authored 240 research publications and edited a number of books in addition to authoring or co-authoring two books. The citation is for "her contributions to our understanding of the biochemical mechanisms by which retroviruses (including the AIDS virus) replicate and insert their genetic material into the host genome."

Personal life In 1960 she married Rudolph (Rudy) Skalka, who passed away in 2022 . They have two children, a daughter and a son.