Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., who has been closely involved in the fight against HIV/AIDS since the first cases were recognized, will reflect on his experiences as a physician, leading HIV/AIDS researcher, and scientific administrator during a community presentation in Hamilton
“Thirty Years of HIV/AIDS: A Personal Journey” will be presented from 7 to 8 p.m. on Thursday, August 11 at the Performing Arts Center at Hamilton High School, 327 Fairgrounds Road. The talk, free and open to the public, is sponsored by Rocky Mountain Laboratories (RML), which Dr. Fauci oversees as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). NIAID is a component of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
As director of NIAID since 1984, Dr. Fauci has been at the forefront of numerous public health crises, such as SARS and the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic. He has served as an advisor to five U.S. presidents.
However, Dr. Fauci is best known for his tireless work as an HIV/AIDS physician/scientist. From the first descriptions of a mysterious, previously unknown disease in 1981, Dr. Fauci realized that what we now know as HIV/AIDS would have immense public health implications. During his career as a physician/scientist and research administrator, he has played a major role in the development of successful treatments and prevention tools, and has articulated to the public and policymakers the importance of HIV/AIDS research efforts and the imperative to deliver the fruits of that research to people who need them most.
Dr. Fauci has received numerous prestigious awards for his scientific accomplishments, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Medal of Science, the Mary Woodard Lasker Award for Public Service, and the George M. Kober Medal of the Association of American Physicians. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and numerous professional societies. He has authored, coauthored, or edited more than 1,100 scientific publications.
“Dr. Fauci will discuss the bleak early years of AIDS when virtually none of his patients survived and there was little realization that AIDS affects people from all walks of life,” says Marshall Bloom, M.D., associate director for science at RML. “He will highlight the development of lifesaving HIV medications; interactions with activists, Congress, and White House administrations; and research to find new ways to prevent HIV infection and, ultimately, a cure. Dr. Fauci has a unique and unparalleled perspective on HIV/AIDS, and it is a rare and exciting opportunity for us to hear his remarkable story first-hand here in Hamilton.”
NIAID conducts and supports research—at NIH, throughout the United States, and worldwide—to study the causes of infectious and immune-mediated diseases, and to develop better means of preventing, diagnosing and treating these illnesses. News releases, fact sheets and other NIAID-related materials are available on the NIAID Web site at http://www.niaid.nih.gov.