Successor to Fauci named for key health agency
Gabrielle M. Etzel
Video Embed
The acting director of the National Institutes of Health selected a successor to Anthony Fauci, the former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Jeanne Marrazzo, the current director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, will begin her work at NIAID in the fall, according to a press statement from NIH acting Director Lawrence Tabak.
UNDERDOG NO MORE: SENATE REPUBLICANS LINE UP BEHIND SAM BROWN IN NEVADA
“Dr. Marrazzo brings a wealth of leadership experience from leading international clinical trials and translational research, managing a complex organizational budget that includes research funding and mentoring trainees in all stages of professional development,” Tabak said.
Although Marrazzo’s research specialty is in HIV and sexually transmitted infections, she was also an expert voice during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In June 2020, Marrazzo was a proponent of masking, saying even cloth masks were the best way for people to prevent transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and protect themselves from infection. Once vaccines became widely available, Marrazzo encouraged people to get vaccinated and keep up to date with boosters regardless of prior COVID-19 infections.
Video Embed
Fauci retired from the position of NIAID director in December 2022 and recently announced his appointment to the medical school and public policy faculty at Georgetown University.
Fauci was the director of NIAID for 38 years, taking a center-stage role in the HIV/AIDS epidemic and the COVID-19 pandemic as a White House policy adviser.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), who has sparred with Fauci in Senate debates over COVID-19, has been an outspoken advocate of dividing NIAID into three separate bodies to prevent consolidation and abuse of power in the national research institution responsible for a vast array of diseases with public policy implications.
NIAID’s budget for fiscal 2023 is nearly $6.6 billion, which is nearly 14% of the entire NIH operating budget.