Medical achievements
President
Bill Clinton visits the NIH in 1995 and hears about the latest advances in HIV/AIDS research from Fauci.
Fauci has made important scientific observations that contributed to the understanding of the regulation of the human immune response and is recognized for delineating the mechanisms whereby
immunosuppressive agents adapt to that response. He developed therapies for formerly fatal diseases such as
polyarteritis nodosa,
granulomatosis with polyangiitis, and
lymphomatoid granulomatosis. In a 1985
Stanford University Arthritis Center Survey, members of the American Rheumatism Association ranked Fauci's work on the treatment of
polyarteritis nodosa and
granulomatosis with polyangiitis as one of the most important advances in patient management in
rheumatology over the previous 20 years.
[29][30][31]
Fauci discovered how to re-dose
cancer drugs in a way that turned a 98 percent mortality rate of the disorder
vasculitis into a 93 percent remission rate.
[15]
Fauci has contributed to the understanding of how
HIV destroys the body's natural defense system, progressing to
AIDS. He has outlined the mechanisms of induction of HIV expression by endogenous
cytokines.
[31] Fauci has worked to develop strategies for the therapy and immune reconstitution of patients with the disease, as well as for a
vaccine to prevent HIV infection. His current[
as of?] research is concentrated on identifying the nature of the immunopathogenic mechanisms of HIV infection and the scope of the body's immune responses to HIV.
In 2003, the
Institute for Scientific Information stated that from 1983 to 2002, "Fauci was the 13th most-cited scientist among the 2.5 to 3.0 million authors in all disciplines throughout the world who published articles in scientific journals."
[7] As a government scientist under seven presidents, Fauci has been described as "a consistent spokesperson for science, a person who more than any other figure has brokered a generational peace" between the two worlds of science and politics.
[22]
HIV/AIDS epidemic
Fauci in 1984.
Fauci as NIAID Director in 2007.
In a 2020 interview with
The Guardian, Fauci remarked, "My career and my identity has really been defined by HIV."
[32] He was one of the leading researchers during the
AIDS epidemic in the early 1980s.
[33] In 1981, he and his team of researchers began looking for a vaccine or treatment for this novel virus, though they would meet a number of obstacles.
[34] In October 1988, protesters came to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Fauci, who had become the institute's director in 1984, bore the brunt of the anger from the
LGBTQ+ community who were largely ignored by the government.
[35][36]
Leading AIDS activist
Larry Kramer attacked Fauci relentlessly in the media.
[37] He called him an "incompetent idiot" and a "pill-pushing" tool of the medical establishment. Fauci did not have control over drug approval though many people felt he was not doing enough. Fauci did make an effort in the late 1980s to reach out to the
LGBTQ+ community in New York and San Francisco to find ways he and the NIAID could find a solution.
[35] Fauci was also praised for engaging with AIDS advocates, and he helped to make experimental AIDS treatments more accessible.
[16] Though Fauci was initially admonished for his treatment of the AIDS epidemic, his work in the community was eventually acknowledged. Kramer, who had spent years hating Fauci for his treatment of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, eventually called him "the only true and great hero" among government officials during the AIDS crisis.
[38][35]
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