As he prepares to depart NIAID, I talked with Fauci about the scientific challenges left on the table, trying to craft public health messaging amid rampant disinformation and the US’s preparedness for the next pandemic. This transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.
Anthony Fauci will step down as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) this month, leaving behind a government career that spans 54 years, 38 in his current role.
Only a few years ago, his biography would have been dominated by his prominent role in addressing the HIV epidemic. Then came a novel virus that challenged the world like none other in our lifetimes. As director of NIAID and later as chief medical adviser to US President Joe Biden, Fauci became the American public’s leading guide to combating (and now cohabitating with) Covid-19 — a role complicated by extreme partisanship, the outsized influence of social media, and our ever-shifting understanding of a virus that keeps evolving.
