Shkoi Kurdistan-
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, announced Monday that he will step down as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases as well as President Biden’s chief medical adviser at the end of the year.
“It has been the honor of a lifetime to have led the NIAID, an extraordinary institution, for so many years and through so many scientific and public health challenges,” Fauci said in a statement. “I am very proud of our many accomplishments. I have worked with — and learned from — countless talented and dedicated people in my own laboratory, at NIAID, at NIH and beyond. To them I express my abiding respect and gratitude.”
In his statement, Fauci stressed that while he is moving on from his current positions, “I am not retiring.”
“I plan to pursue the next phase of my career while I still have so much energy and passion for my field,” he said. “I want to use what I have learned as NIAID Director to continue to advance science and public health and to inspire and mentor the next generation of scientific leaders as they help prepare the world to face future infectious disease threats.”
Fauci, 81, has served as director of the NIAID for nearly four decades.
“Over the past 38 years as NIAID Director, I have had the enormous privilege of serving under and advising seven presidents of the United States, beginning with President Ronald Reagan, on newly emerging and re-emerging infectious disease threats including HIV/AIDS, West Nile virus, the anthrax attacks, pandemic influenza, various bird influenza threats, Ebola and Zika, among others, and, of course, most recently the COVID-19 pandemic,” Fauci said. “I am particularly proud to have served as the Chief Medical Advisor to President Joe Biden since the very first day of his administration.”
