Anthony Fauci

The Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), Dr. Anthony Fauci is a pioneer in the study of diseases of the immune system. The world's leading AIDS researcher, he is also the administrator of a multi-billion dollar government agency. He oversees clinical trials of experimental drugs, conducts research in his own laboratory, publishes reams of scientific papers, and still makes weekly rounds of clinic patients. Anthony Fauci was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York and received his M.D. from Cornell University Medical College. He joined NIAID in 1968 and became a pioneer in the field of human immunoregulation, developing therapies for formerly fatal diseases. He became Director of NIAID in 1984, as the AIDS epidemic was ravaging America's cities. Activists accused the government of deliberate neglect and hanged Dr. Fauci in effigy. Rather than shrinking from his critics, he met with them face-to-face. Within a year of his appointment, he had become the world's foremost advocate for AIDS research, a hero to his former critics. He streamlined the process for testing new drugs, and successfully lobbied the Food and Drug Administration to make AIDS drugs more widely available. When Fauci took charge of NIAID, its annual budget was only $320 million. By 2010 it was approximately $4.8 billion. As AIDS continues to rage around the world, Dr. Fauci play an international role in the struggle to control the spread of the disease, promote its treatment, and find a safe and effective vaccine. This podcast was recorded at the 2007 International Achievement Summit in Washington, D.C.