The American Association of Immunologists (AAI) is appalled by the continuing efforts to target Anthony S. Fauci, MD, AAI member and one of the nation’s most accomplished physician-scientists and a longstanding member of the immunology community.
For more than five decades, Dr. Fauci dedicated his career to advancing biomedical research and protecting public health. His scientific leadership contributed to transformative advances in the understanding and treatment of HIV/AIDS, influenza, and other infectious diseases, and his service to the American people spanned seven presidential administrations. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Fauci demonstrated crucial leadership on behalf of science and immunology, providing a guiding voice for the American people and advocating that public health measures be based on scientific knowledge as the infection evolved. Dr. Fauci was also instrumental in supporting the development and delivery of effective vaccines that allowed the safe emergence from the pandemic.
Attacks on scientists do not stop with individual researchers—they undermine the entire scientific enterprise. They erode public trust, silence scientific expertise, interrupt life-saving research, and discourage talented young people from entering scientific careers. The result is a society that is more susceptible to misinformation, less equipped to respond to future health crises, and slower to develop the innovations, medicines, and therapies that improve and save lives. Once public trust and scientific capacity are lost, rebuilding them can take decades.
Science depends on the ability of researchers and public health leaders to pursue evidence wherever it leads and to communicate their findings honestly, even when the evidence is complex, evolving, or politically inconvenient. When scientists become targets of personal or political attacks, it sends a chilling message to current and future generations of researchers and weakens the foundations of evidence-based decision-making.
AAI calls on Congress to reject attempts to politicize science and instead reaffirm a shared commitment to facts and evidence that has long served as a cornerstone of the nation’s health, security, and economic strength.
