Iris Long

Iris Lillian Doerr Long (December 8, 1933 – April 4, 2026) was an American chemist and activist in the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) effort to spread information about the possible antiviral drugs that could be used to combat HIV/AIDS.

Early life and career Iris Lillian Doerr was born in New York City on December 8, 1933. Long worked as an organic chemist in several research hospitals, including eleven years at Sloan-Kettering, there she worked on developing nucleosides - experience that would later help her understand the workings of antiretroviral drugs. She left Sloan-Kettering and earned her doctor of philosophy in 1972 at the University of Connecticut. Her dissertation was titled Lactones as Possible Carcinogens and Tumor Inhibitors. Long's doctoral advisor was Robert E. Willette. She brought the group information on a clinical trial carried out on HIV positive patients by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and was able to explain the types of drugs being used. This proved to be her greatest gift: explaining the complex range of drugs out there to the group. Following this she helped the Treatment and Data Committee to review medical information and report back to the larger group. She would go on to organize the AIDS Treatment Registry.

Personal life and death she married Michael G. Long.