Robert Joseph Huebner was an American physician and virologist whose research into viruses, their causes and treatment that led to his breakthrough insights into the connections between viruses and cancer, leading to new treatments, as well as his hypothesized oncogene, which was discovered to be a trigger for normal cells turning cancerous. Huebner was born in Cheviot, Ohio, a western suburb of Cincinnati, on February 23, 1914. 

He decided he wanted to become a physician and did his premed undergraduate training at the University of Cincinnati. He attended the Saint Louis University School of Medicine starting in 1938. President of the United States Richard Nixon presented Huebner with the National Medal of Science at a White House dinner held on February 16, 1969, recognizing his "contributions to the modern understanding of the biology of viruses and their role in the induction of diverse diseases. He was also inducted into and participated actively in the United States National Academy of Sciences. He also received the Rockefeller Public Service Award. Huebner died at age 84 due to pneumonia on August 26, 1998, at the Veterans Administration Medical Center in Coatesville, Pennsylvania.