Three years after COVID-19 became the most devastating global pandemic in a century, Dr. Anthony Fauci (M.D. ’66) visited the Weill Department of Medicine to reflect on a future made increasingly tenuous by the impact of climate change, continued economic and social inequities, and as, Dr. Fauci himself put it: “an era of the normalization of untruths.”
Before a packed audience in Uris Auditorium on March 29, Dr. Fauci delivered the 2023 Ralph L. Nachman M.D. Distinguished Visiting Professorship with a Grand Rounds titled “Pandemic Preparedness and Response: Lessons from COVID-19.” The event followed an intimate junior faculty gathering and dinner the preceding evening.
Dr. Nachman spends time with Dr. Fauci at a reception the evening before Dr. Fauci's presentation.
As director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) for nearly four decades and chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden from 2021-22, Dr. Fauci’s storied career in infectious diseases first entered the public eye with his crucial work fighting the global HIV/AIDS epidemic of the 1980s and 90s.
Advances in mRNA technology long underway before COVID-19 helped scientists develop effective vaccines against the causative SARS-CoV-2 virus within 11 months of its onset, preventing an estimated additional 3.25 million American deaths. The speed of the COVID-19 vaccines’ development is a stunning contrast from the 47 and 10 years, respectively, it took to create polio and measles vaccines. Instead of being celebrated, however, this achievement is often overshadowed by anti-vaccine misinformation. As of 2023, only 70 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated. Fewer than 20 percent have received the latest COVID-19 booster. “The only way I think you can counter misinformation is to flood the system with correct information,” Dr. Fauci said. You can read more about his presentation in our recent news story.
Dr. Fauci presents his Grand Rounds in front of a packed audience.
Following his presentation, Dr. Fauci mingled with many of the Weill Department of Medicine’s approximately 150 residents. After engaging in casual conversation (and more than a few selfies!) with students, Dr. Fauci spent the next hour in a lively question-and-answer session with residents.
After being asked the advice he’d give his younger self, Dr. Fauci said wryly, “I’d tell myself to chill out more.” Dr. Michelle Lee, a third-year internal resident who plans to specialize in gastroenterology, asked the 82-year-old physician if he’d gotten any “training” to prepare for his frequent television appearances. “Not really, no,” Dr. Fauci said, describing his experience as “on-the-job training.” Over time, he said, he learned good communication principles like knowing your audience and keeping messages clear and direct. “I’ve been asked how I’ve maintained my equanimity over the years, and I just say, I did my residency at a New York hospital,” he concluded, evoking laughter.
As for Dr. Fauci’s Grand Rounds, Dr. Kimberly Loo, also a third-year resident, noted how much she enjoyed learning more about the origin of the COVID-19 vaccine from a molecular standpoint. Chief Medical Resident Dr. Thomas Di Vitantonio thanked Dr. Fauci for his “calm and direction” during the pandemic; many of the house officers started their residencies at the virus’s onset.
Dr. Fauci, center, poses with current Weill Department of Medicine residents.
Dr. Fauci’s final bit of advice was evocative of the wisdom he’d given fourth-year medical students during his previous appearance at Weill Cornell Medicine for the debut screening of the PBS documentary “American Masters: Dr. Tony Fauci.” “Keep an open mind to everything,” he advised. Dr. Fauci himself initially envisioned a career as a clinician before pursuing a research track in infectious diseases that transformed his life –and ultimately the lives of millions.