Souleymane Mboup (born 1951) is a Senegalese microbiologist, medical researcher, and colonel in the Armed Forces of Senegal.

[4] After completing his PhD, Mboup returned to the University of Dakar's School of Medicine and Pharmacy as a professor of microbiology.

[5] Mboup focused his research on Dakar's sex workers and the sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) they contracted.

[6] In 1985, only two years after finishing schooling, Mboup's research of Dakar's sex workers led to a breakthrough discovery of a new type of HIV.

Mboup's original collection of blood samples from Senegalese sex workers, when tested by Harvard School of Public Health's Phyllis Kanki, showed a closer relation to Simian Immunodeficiency Virus than the known HIV-1.

[6] The subsequent study and published report collected samples from 289 sex workers in Dakar, the capital of Senegal.

[7] Mboup, along with Max Essex, Phyllis Kanki, and a French colleague, presented their identification of a new type of HIV in November 1985 at the International Symposium on African AIDS in Brussels, Belgium.

[6] After the initial identification of a new type of HIV, Mboup and his team, along with the newly formed consortium, focused their research in Dakar.

Mboup and his collaborators focused on researching sex workers in Dakar over time, as this is the initial population HIV-2 had infected.

Data collected during the collaboration not only furthered understanding of HIV, but are also used today to inform research on other infectious diseases in West Africa.

The organization conducts epidemiological studies and trainings with the goal of providing accessible healthcare and developing understanding of diseases in Africa.

[12] Mboup served as a consultant to the World Health Organization in 1987 when he was sent to Benin to conduct epidemiological research on HIV.

[16] Mboup attended the Senegalese Military Health Training Academy and eventually rose to the rank of Colonel in the Armed Forces of Senegal.