(Reuters) -Dr. Anthony Fauci, the longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) and the chief medical adviser to U.S. President Joe Biden, will step down in December after more than 50 years of government service.
Fauci, 81, has been the NIAID director since 1984, and in 2020 became the face of the U.S. government’s efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic.
“While I am moving on from my current positions, I am not retiring,” Fauci said on Monday. “After more than 50 years of government service, I plan to pursue the next phase of my career while I still have so much energy and passion for my field.”
Fauci has served under seven U.S. Presidents, beginning with Ronald Reagan, on newly emerging and re-emerging infectious disease threats including HIV/AIDS, Ebola and Zika.
Last month, the infectious disease expert told Reuters that he planned to retire by the end of Biden’s first term, but it could come much earlier than that.
“As he leaves his position in the U.S. Government, I know the American people and the entire world will continue to benefit from Dr. Fauci’s expertise in whatever he does next,” Biden said in a statement.
“The United States of America is stronger, more resilient, and healthier because of him.”
Fauci will also step down as chief of the NIAID Laboratory of Immunoregulation.
(Reporting by Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)
