Anthony Fauci, M.D., director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, is parting with an item close to his heart in the name of history.
Dr. Fauci donated his personal model of the coronavirus he used during the pandemic to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C., this week. The model will become part of the museum’s national medicine and science collections and feature in a future exhibit looking back on over 200 years of medicine in the U.S., according to a news release from the Smithsonian.
The model has been one of Dr. Fauci’s most commonly used visual aids in explaining how the virus works to members of Congress, the press, and the public, per the Smithsonian. Produced with a 3D printer, it depicts the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19. And it includes a detailed depiction of the virus’s distinctive spike protein, which sits on the surface of the virus and helps it bind to human cells (the first step in infection).
In discussing why he chose the virus model to document his work during the pandemic, Dr. Fauci told The New York Times, “I wanted to pick something that was really meaningful to me and important because I used it so often.” He added, “It’s a really phenomenally graphic way to get people to understand.”
Dr. Fauci made the commemorative contribution during a March 2 virtual ceremony during which the museum presented him with the Great Americans medal. Dr. Fauci, 80, was chosen to receive the honor “for his extraordinary leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and lifetime devotion to the treatment and eradication of infectious diseases,” according to the National Museum of American History’s Instagram. (Previous recipients of the Great Americans medal include Madeleine Albright, Colin Powell, Billie Jean King, and Paul Simon.)
As the Smithsonian notes, Dr. Fauci has led NIAID since 1984 and helped seven presidents navigate health crises in the U.S. and abroad—as well as contributed to and overseen important medical research on emerging and established infectious diseases, including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and, most recently, COVID-19.
“Dr. Fauci has helped save millions of lives and advanced the treatment and our understanding of infectious and immunologic diseases across more than five decades of public service,” said museum director Anthea M. Hartig, Ph.D. “His humanitarianism and dedication truly exemplify what it means to be a great American.”
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