WASHINGTON (AP) – Dr. Anthony Fauci, the face of the U.S. government’s pandemic response, donated his personal 3D model of the COVID-19 virus to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
The museum honored Fauci on Tuesday with its Great Americans medal.
“Dr. Fauci has helped save millions of lives and advanced the treatment and our understanding of infectious and immunological diseases in more than five decades of public service,” said Anthea M. Hartig, director of the museum. dedication is an example of what it means to be a great American. “
The museum asked Fauci to contribute a personal artifact to mark the pandemic, and he chose the bunch of blue and orange ball he used to explain the complexity of the virus in dozens of interviews.
The model was manufactured with a 3D printer and shows what the Smithsonian announcement calls “the various components of the SARS-CoV-2 virion (the complete, infectious form of the virus), including the vein protein.”
Fauci unveiled his new medal Tuesday night during a video call, calling it an extraordinary and humble honor.
“It’s been a terrible year in so many ways,” he said. “For decades from now, people will be talking about the experience we went through.”
Fauci, 80, is the director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. After serving as the beleagured and regular on the sidelines of the Trump administration’s COVID response, Fauci was retained as a senior adviser to President Joe Biden.
The Great Americans Medal was established in 2016. Previous honors include former Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright and Gen. Colin L. Powell, tennis star Billie Jean King and musician Paul Simon.
In 2008, Fauci received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian award, from then-President George W. Bush for his decades of work, dating back to the earliest days of the AIDS crisis.