Topic: Emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases: From AIDS to Zika
Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., whose career has focused on fighting HIV/AIDS and other emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases, as well as ancient infections like malaria and tuberculosis, will speak at the Hamilton Performing Arts Center on Friday, Oct. 25, at 7 p.m.
“Dr. Fauci is one of the world’s preeminent scientists, partly because he is gifted with the ability to concisely explain scientific topics in a way everyone can understand,” said Marshall Bloom, M.D., of Rocky Mountain Laboratories in Hamilton. “Most everyone who has watched a national news report about an infectious disease outbreak has probably seen or heard Dr. Fauci.”
As director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, MD., Dr. Fauci oversees a vast research enterprise. NIAID studies are conducted by grantees and contractors throughout the United States and worldwide, including NIAID scientists in Bethesda, Maryland, and at RML.
Dr. Fauci’s Hamilton talk, titled “Emerging and Re-Emerging Infectious Diseases: From AIDS to Zika,” will highlight some of those projects. The hour-long presentation, which is free and intended for a general audience, is part of the RML community outreach series. RML and NIAID are part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
Infectious diseases remain among the leading causes of death and disability worldwide and a robust research strategy is needed to prepare for new and old infections that continually emerge in epidemic form, Dr. Fauci says. His talk will cover some of the major emerging infectious disease challenges he has faced in his decades at the helm of NIAID and advances made in developing medical countermeasures, such as diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines, to contain them.
“HIV/AIDS, multiple Ebola outbreaks in Africa, the 2009 pandemic influenza outbreak, the emergence of Zika virus in the western hemisphere, and the recent increase in measles cases worldwide are just a few examples of emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases in the modern world,” Dr. Fauci says. “Each of these diseases has had significant social and economic impacts related to unexpected illnesses and deaths, and interfered with travel, business, and many normal life activities.”
Residents might recall Dr. Fauci’s August 2011 presentation in Hamilton when he discussed “Thirty Years of HIV/AIDS: A Personal Journey.” He has led NIAID since 1984 and has been at the forefront of numerous public health crises. He has served as an adviser to six U.S. Presidents and has received numerous prestigious awards for his scientific accomplishments, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the National Medal of Science, and the Mary Woodard Lasker Award for Public Service. 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.
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.
For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.