A leading expert of infectious diseases, he has served
in Public Health for over 50 years. He has advised Reagan, two Bushes, Clinton,
Obama and Trump. For 20 years (1983-2002), he was the thirteenth most cited from
among 3 million academicians. He has more than 1200 papers published. Since
1978, he has held 33 visiting professorships, given over 500 major
lectureships, received 31 honorary degrees, 130 awards and honors, served on 41
editorial boards. He earns $400,000 a year, more than Vice-president Pence.
Since 1984, he has headed the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious
Diseases (NIAID). As its head, he handles a budget of $5.89 billion.
*****
A Brooklyn boy, both sets of his grandparents migrated
from Italy. His father owned a pharmacy. His mother and elder sister worked at
the counter. Little Tony delivered prescriptions on a bicycle. An academic
topper, he was also the captain of the Regis High school basketball team. His
height (5’7’’) meant basketball was a short career. Till today, and he is 79
now, he has a toy-sized net in his office, which he uses to relieve stress. He
runs or brisk walks 3.5 miles every day. The school taught him precision of
thought, and economy of expression, qualities evident when one watches him on
television.
His undergrad degree was classics and philosophy with
pre-med. He studied Latin for four years, Greek for three and French for two. One
summer, he was a volunteer to build a new library in the Cornell medical
institute. During lunch, he peeped into the auditorium, and wondered what it
would be like to study there. When confronted by a guard, Tony proudly said he planned
to attend this institute next year. The guard laughed ‘Right kid, and next year
I am going to be the Police Commissioner.’
*****
The following year, he was admitted to Cornell and in 1966 qualified as a Doctor of
medicine. For years, he worked as a physician and teacher of clinical medicine.
(Yesterday, I mentioned epidemiologists better have a back-up. This is the best
back-up. Medical doctors are never unemployed). How did Dr Fauci become an
expert in epidemics?
On 5 June 1981, he received a report that described a
healthy young man dying of a strange pneumonia. More reports followed,
describing the death of 26 men, all gay. “It was the first time in my medical
career,” says Dr Fauci, “I actually got goose pimples. I no longer dismissed it
as a curiosity. There was something very wrong here. This was really a new
microbe of some sort, acting like a sexually transmitted disease.”
*****
One of Dr Fauci’s greatest achievements was PEPFAR
(President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS relief), 2003. George Bush launched it, Dr
Fauci designed it. He visited several African countries personally. The program
for saving Africans and Caribbeans shows what good America can do. PEPFAR has
so far spent $80 billion, provided therapy to 15 million infected people,
averted 2.2 million HIV infections, and provided care for 6.4 million
vulnerable children.
Dr Fauci has helped fight AIDS, anthrax, SARS, 2009
Swine flu, MERS, Ebola, influenza and now Covid-19.
Passion is as important as education. Dr Fauci is the
most famous epidemiologist, because he got goose pimples on reading the strange
pneumonia deaths caused by an unknown microbe.
Ravi
खरा विद्वान नेहमीच नवीन शिकायला समजून घ्यायला उत्सुक असतो
ReplyDelete