By Claire Hughes. Staff writer 
Albany Times Union
First published: Thursday, March 28, 2002 

NEW YORK -- The head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious 
Diseases, who since Sept. 11 has spearheaded the drive to develop vaccines to 
fight potential bioterrorist agents, was named winner of the $500,000 Albany 
Medical Prize in Medicine and Biomedical Research on Wednesday. 

Dr. Anthony S. Fauci accepted the award at a ceremony at the New York Academy 
of Sciences, where he was recognized for his work at the institute and 
research into AIDS and other illnesses. A reception and dinner will be held 
at the Franklin Plaza in Troy on April 17.

At a news conference announcing the award, Fauci hinted that researchers have 
made progress toward efforts to produce enough smallpox vaccine to deter 
potential terrorists from using the virus in the United States.

National health officials are expected to make an announcement about efforts 
to dilute the nation's supply of 15 million doses of smallpox vaccine into 
the 75 million or more doses estimated to be needed in a national attack, 
Fauci said.

"One of the best deterrents of someone propagating on us a smallpox attack is 
if we're prepared,'' said Fauci, who would not comment on details of the 
vaccine dilution study, but said it was successful.

Fauci is the second winner of the Albany Medical Prize. The first was Arnold 
Levine, a pioneering cancer researcher who in 1979 co-discovered a gene 
believed to prevent common cancers by keeping damaged cells from multiplying.

In presenting the medical award -- the largest in the nation and second only 
to Sweden's Nobel Prize worldwide -- Albany Medical Center Chairman, 
President and Chief Executive Officer James J. Barba lauded Fauci as a 
doctor, scientist and public servant.

"There could, in my estimation, have been no better choice,'' Barba said.

The prize was created in 2000 with a $50 million gift from Troy native and 
New York City philanthropist Morris "Marty'' Silverman, who hopes to help 
develop Albany as a hub for health and education. Silverman told Fauci during 
the ceremony: "You now will become a steppingstone to that dream.''

Fauci's work will focus on developing vaccines to prevent agents that could 
be used in bioterrorist attacks as well as the HIV virus, which is associated 
with AIDS. His pioneering work on HIV and AIDS goes back 20 years, when the 
disease was first identified in this country, and his findings remain the 
basis of much current research in the field.

"I cannot see myself stopping what I'm doing until we have a vaccine'' to 
prevent HIV, he said. "A vaccine is within reach,'' he added, though he said 
it would not be within the next year or two.

Fauci was surprised to hear he had won the prize, he said. He knew of the 
prize through Levine, and when he saw a message from Barba earlier this month 
he assumed the Albany Med chief wanted his opinion on a candidate. When he 
called back, Barba congratulated him.

"I was standing up,'' Fauci said. "I had to sit down at my desk.''

Fauci is still thinking about how to spend his windfall, he said.

The Brooklyn native received his bachelor's degree from the College of Holy 
Cross and his medical degree from Cornell University Medical College.

The Albany Medical Prize selection committee is made up of 10 scholars, 
doctors and researchers from the Capital Region and around the country, 
including Dr. Marlene Belfort, director of the Division of Genetic Disorders 
at the state's Wadsworth Center, and Dr. Judah Folkman, professor of 
pediatric surgery at Children's Hospital, Boston.

A handful of the 45 nominations for this year's prize were from other 
countries, said Ronald Joyce, an Albany Med vice president and administrator 
to the prize selection committee.

While the prize was established to raise Albany's profile, the news 
conference was held in New York City to accommodate Silverman, who has had 
health problems. 

<A 
HREF="http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyKey=79856&category=F

">'Pioneer in HIV honored' - timesunion.com</A>
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyKey=79856&category=F 
====================================================
ADDITIONAL BIOGRAPHICAL INFO FOR DR. FAUCI:

...Anthony Stephen Fauci was born December 24, 1940, in Brooklyn, New York. 
He grew up in the Bensonhurt section of the borough, where his father, 
Stephen, was a pharmacist and his mother, Eugenia, a homemaker. As a teen, 
Fauci commuted to Manhattan, where he attended Regis High School, excelling 
academically and playing on the basketball team. 

He won a full scholarship to the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, 
Massachusetts, and majored in Greek, Latin and philosophy, earning a 
bachelor's degree in 1962. 

He received his medical degree from Cornell University Medical College in 
Ithaca, New York, in 1966 and then completed an internship and residency at 
the New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center in New York City. 

In 1968, he joined the National Institutes of Health, the focal point of 
medical research in the United States, as a clinical associate in the 
Laboratory of Clinical Investigation at the NIAID....

An admitted workaholic, he arrives at the office before 7 a.m. Fauci 
frequently puts in an 80-hour week, including working on Saturdays. His 
myriad professional duties have cut in to the amount of time he spends with 
his family.... 

Not surprisingly, he met his wife, Christine Grady, at the bedside of a 
patient....

Now married for 16 years, the couple have three daughters, ranging in age 
from 15 to 9. Fauci picks the girls up from gymnastics in the evening when he 
leaves work, and the family eats dinner together at around 9:30 p.m.... 

At 60, Fauci shows no signs of slowing down....

<A 
HREF="http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/americasbest/science.medicine/pro.afauc

i.html">CNN/TIME - America's Best</A>  
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2001/americasbest/science.medicine/pro.afauci.html
======================================
ADDITIONAL BIO INFO:

<A HREF="http://www.thebody.com/niaid/2001/award.html">The Body: NIH/NIAID: 
Anthony S. Fauci Awarded 2001 Frank Annunzio Award</A> 
http://www.thebody.com/niaid/2001/award.html

In 1995, an Institute for Scientific Information study indicated that in the 
period of 1981-1994, among more than 1 million scientists throughout the 
world who published during that time frame, Dr. Fauci was the fifth most 
cited. 

<A HREF="http://www.niaid.nih.gov/director/director.htm">NIAID - Director's 
Page</A> 
http://www.niaid.nih.gov/director/director.htm

<A HREF="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/july-dec01/fauci_12-19.html">
Online NewsHour: Dr. Anthony Fauci -- December 19, 2001</A> 
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/july-dec01/fauci_12-19.html

<A HREF="http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/july-dec01/anthrax_10-31.html">
Online NewsHour: Newsmaker: Dr. Anthony Fauci -- October 31, 2001</A> 
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/july-dec01/anthrax_10-31.html