Health Matters

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Dr. Fauci reflects on his career

By Alice Park

Senior Health Correspondent

After running the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for 38 years and advising seven U.S. presidents, Dr. Anthony Fauci is stepping down at the end of the month. So what's next?

In an interview discussing his career—and what he hopes for the person who fills his shoes—he told me he plans to focus on sharing the vast amount of expertise he has amassed responding to dozens of public-health threats, including HIV, H1N1, Zika, Ebola, and COVID-19. Here’s what else he said:

On the threat that science faces today: “Political ideation has been very disruptive to the kind of cooperation and collaboration that you need for public health. If there's one area where you would really like to have everyone pulling together, it would be as we confront a historic pandemic such as COVID-19. But that's not what we're seeing."
On advice for his successor: “Although you may be involved in policy, stay out of politics.”
On what we can expect next from COVID-19: “We may need an updated SARS-CoV-2 booster every year, similar to the flu vaccine.”

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One Last Read

How Racism Ruins Sleep

Racial disparities affect all aspects of health—even sleep, reports journalist Katherine Harmon Courage for STAT. Black adults in the U.S. tend to get worse sleep than white adults for a number of nefarious reasons, including noise pollution, chronic stress, and a heightened sense of alertness. The consequences, including a higher risk for heart disease, can be grave.

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Today's newsletter was written by Jamie Ducharme and edited by Mandy Oaklander.