When the Malaysia Airlines plane was blown out of the sky, the world lost a number of people working to solve the AIDS epidemic.

Some reports suggest as many as 100 people, or about one third of the people onboard MH17, were heading to the biennial International AIDS Conference in Melbourne, Australia.

"These were men and women who had dedicated their lives to saving the lives of others and they were taken from us in a senseless act of violence," U.S. President Barack Obama told reporters at a press briefing. "In this world today we shouldn't forget in the midst of conflict and killing there are people like these -- people who are focused on what can be built rather than what can be destroyed. People who are focused on how they can help people they never met."

This is leading to concerns that because the community of researchers is so tight-knit, the intellectual loss will impact research. reports the United Nations AIDS program, UNAIDS, fears "some of the finest academics, health-care workers and activists in the AIDS response may have perished."

Obama said about 100 of those killed may have been going to the conference -- a number the White House said it received from remarks made by Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott. According to , conference organizers have only been able to confirm seven names. The difference is because the airline hasn't released a passenger manifest.

One of the people who is confirmed to have died is leading AIDS researcher and former president of the International AIDS Society Dr. Joep Lange. Lange had been researching the condition for more than three decades and was considered one of the top researchers in the field especially when it came to increasing access of affordable drugs for patients in developing countries. Lange was a professor of Medicine at the University of Amsterdam and according to , "trialled antiretroviral therapies, which have now transformed HIV into a manageable disease."

According to , Lange rushed to the gate to make the flight while texting a colleague to say he was "superbusy".

 

Another person confirmed to be on the flight is long-time World Health Organization spokesman Glenn Thomas.

"His twin sister says he died doing what he loved," said Gregory Hartl of WHO at a press conference. Hartl worked alongside Thomas in the communications department. "(Thomas) will be remembered for his ready laugh and passion for public health."

WHO staff turned Thomas' desk into a memorial.

 

"The International AIDS Society today expresses its profound sadness at receiving news," President-Elect Chris Beyrer told reporters in Australia. "At this incredibly sad and sensitive time the IAS stands with our international family."

The conference will go ahead as planned and it "will include opportunities to reflect and remember those we have lost," reads a . It will begin Sunday.