It's no secret that Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, has become a household name amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, making regular media appearances to offer trusted and factual information on the virus.
But the nation’s leading infectious disease expert had a long history in the medical field before COVID came to the states — and soon, a new children’s book will detail the 80-year-old’s rise to become “America’s Doctor.”
"Dr. Fauci: How a Boy from Brooklyn Became America's Doctor” will be released on June 29, Simon & Schuster revealed Sunday. The book, written by Kate Messner and illustrated by Alexandra Bye, will tell Fauci’s story “from his Brooklyn beginnings through medical school and his challenging role working with seven US presidents to tackle some of the biggest public health challenges of the past fifty years,” the book’s description reads in part.
Young readers will also receive a "timeline, recommended reading, a full spread of facts about vaccines and how they work, and Dr. Fauci’s own tips for future scientists," per the book's website.
While Fauci has not officially endorsed the book, a spokesperson from Simon & Schuster told CNN Business the book was written with both the doctor’s permission and approval.
Messner also told the outlet she interviewed Fauci several times in the past year "at the edges of his long work days," occasionally chatting with the doctor via Zoom as he left his office or in the early morning hours before he started his work day.
Messner says she believes children across the country will resonate with aspects of Fauci’s childhood, from delivering prescriptions on his bicycle in Brooklyn, to playing stickball games with the neighborhood kids.
While many young people likely recognize Fauci as the beleaguered and frequently sidelined face of the Trump administration’s COVID response, who was then retained as a senior adviser to President Joe Biden, Fauci’s service in the public health sector dates back decades.
Fauci is the director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, a position he has held since the 1980s. He has also served as an advisor to every president since Ronald Reagan was in office.
And from 1983-2002, Fauci emerged as the 13th most-cited scientist worldwide from a pool of nearly 3 million authors who published articles in scientific journals in that same time frame, per an Institute for Scientific Information study. Between the years 1996-2006, Fauci was the world’s 10th most-cited expert on HIV/AIDS research.
Fauci received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian award, in 2008 from then-President George W. Bush for his decades of work, dating back to the earliest days of the AIDS crisis.
Earlier this year, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History honored Fauci with its Great Americans Medal. Previous honorees include former secretaries of state Madeleine K. Albright and Gen. Colin L. Powell, tennis star Billie Jean King and musician Paul Simon.
“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 Anthea M. Hartig, the museum’s director. “His humanitarianism and dedication truly exemplify what it means to be a Great American.”
The Associated Press contributed to this update.