Dr. Anthony Fauci, America’s top infectious disease expert, announced Monday that he will retire in December.
Fauci, who has served in public health for more than five decades, drew national attention during the coronavirus pandemic while also being the target of political attacks.
Fauci is a health adviser to President Joe Biden, and has been director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Immunoregulation Laboratory.
“For 54 years I have been going to universities, to laboratories, to hospitals, every day, even most weekends. The idea of leaving is obviously bittersweet,” Fauci told the AP news agency.
Fauci was a leader in the federal government’s response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic and other diseases before the COVID pandemic.
“I will be leaving these positions in December of this year to pursue the next chapter of my career,” Fauci said, calling his experience “the honor of a lifetime.”
Fauci became the face of the administration’s response to COVID-19 when the outbreak broke out in early 2020, making frequent appearances on television news and in daily press conferences with White House officials, including then-President Donald Trump. Trump.
But as the pandemic deepened, Fauci fell out of favor with Trump and his officials when his calls for public caution collided with the former president’s desire to return to normalcy and promote unproven therapies against the virus.
Fauci found himself sidelined by the Trump administration, increasingly excluded from major decisions about the federal response, but continued to speak out publicly in media interviews, advocating for social distancing and the use of masks in public places before distribution. of vaccines against COVID-19.
He was also the object of political attacks and death threats, to the extent that he was assigned a security service for his protection.
When Biden arrived at the White House, he asked Fauci to join his administration in a larger capacity.
“Whether you have known him personally or not, he has touched the lives of all citizens through his work,” the president said in a statement. “I express my deepest appreciation for your public service. America is stronger, more resilient and healthier today because of him.”
Fauci claimed that despite retiring from federal service, he planned to continue working.
“I want to use what I learned as director of NIAID to continue advancing science and public health and to inspire and mentor the next generation of scientific leaders to help prepare the world for future infectious disease threats,” he added.
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