TUESDAY, Feb. 16, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Anthony Fauci, M.D., director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), has been awarded a $1 million prize for “defending science” and advocating for vaccines during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The prize from the Dan David Foundation in Israel was announced Monday, the Associated Press reported.
Fauci, who has been NIAID director since 1984 and is President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, was praised for “courageously defending science in the face of uninformed opposition during the challenging COVID crisis,” according to a statement from the private foundation. It also noted that Fauci, 80, deserved recognition for a lifetime of leadership on HIV research and AIDS relief, the AP reported.
“As the COVID-19 pandemic unraveled, [Fauci] leveraged his considerable communication skills to address people gripped by fear and anxiety and worked relentlessly to inform individuals in the United States and elsewhere about the public health measures essential for containing the pandemic’s spread,” the foundation’s awards committee said, praising Fauci for “speaking truth to power in a highly charged political environment.”
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