April 7, 2005
Anthony Fauci, NIAID director, to speak here
Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has been director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) since 1984, will speak at the UW Health Sciences Center on Thursday, April 28.
His topic is “Emerging and Re-Emerging Infectious Diseases: The Perpetual Challenge.” His lecture, at 4 p.m. in Hogness Auditorium, is open to the UW community and registration is not required. The School of Medicine is sponsoring the lecture, which will be followed by a reception in the Health Sciences Lobby.
At NIAID, part of the National Institutes of Health, Fauci oversees an extensive portfolio of basic and applied research to prevent, diagnose and treat infectious and immune-mediated illnesses, including HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases, illness from potential agents of bioterrorism, tuberculosis, malaria, autoimmune disorders, asthma and allergies. According to information on the NIAID Web site, Fauci also serves as a key advisor to the White House and the Department of Health and Human Services on global AIDS issues, and on initiatives to bolster medical and public health preparedness against possible bioterrorist attacks.
A native of Brooklyn, New York, Fauci received his M.D. degree from Cornell University Medical College in 1966. After completing an internship and residency at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center, he joined NIH as a clinical associate in the Laboratory of Clinical Investigation at NIAID. In 1974, he became head of the Clinical Physiology Section there and in 1980 he was named chief of the Laboratory of Immunoregulation, a position he still holds along with the directorship.
In his own research, Fauci has made many contributions to basic and clinical research on the development and treatment of diseases related to the immune system. He pioneered the field of human immunoregulation by making a number of basic scientific observations that serve as the basis for current understanding of how the human immune response is regulated. He has also made important contributions to understanding how the AIDS virus destroys the body’s defenses, leading to deadly infections. He continues to devote much of his research time to identifying the nature of HIV infection mechanisms and the scope of the body’s immune responses to the AIDS retrovirus.
He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine, the American Philosophical Society and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, as well as numerous scientific and medical associations. He is a member of several journal editorial boards and an editor of Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine.
His visit to the UW is being organized by the School of Medicine’s Office of Research and Graduate Education. For more information, contact Vee White at veewhite@u.washington.edu.
