In July 2023, Dr. Anthony S. Fauci joined the faculty at Georgetown as a Distinguished University Professor in the School of Medicine and the McCourt School of Public Policy following his 38-year tenure as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease at the National Institutes of Health.
Since then, Fauci has enmeshed himself in the Georgetown community, meeting and connecting with students not just in lecture halls and classrooms but also at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, the university’s Calcagnini Contemplative Center in Bluemont, Virginia, and even Yates Field House.
“One of the best decisions I have made in a long time is joining the faculty at Georgetown,” Fauci said. “I just love being around undergrads, grad students and medical students. They are super bright and delightful to deal with.”
Students like Manya Reddy (C’26), a member of Georgetown’s Emergency Response Medical Service team, have felt inspired after meeting with Fauci and hearing him reflect on his career.
“His visit was an inspiring opportunity for members to gain firsthand insights from one of the most influential figures in modern health care,” Reddy said after Fauci spoke to the emergency response group on Jan. 24.
Fauci has also served as a mentor for some students who are interested in medicine, offering his perspective on career paths, research and more.
“He is just this larger-than-life figure when you think about his public health impact, but when you sit down with him to have a conversation, he feels like someone you’ve known your whole life and he makes you feel so special,” said Umayr Shaikh (M’26), a third-year student in the School of Medicine.
A New Career Trajectory
Shaikh remembers first watching Fauci speak during a press conference about the COVID-19 pandemic. At the time, he assumed Fauci was a public relations professional because of his poise and gravitas. But after learning that Fauci was a doctor, Shaikh felt inspired to become one himself.
“That moment made me change my entire career trajectory,” he said. “I wanted a career where I could really focus on helping people, interfacing with the public and being a champion for public health.”
Shaikh entered Georgetown’s School of Medicine in 2023, the same year Fauci joined.
He later reached out to Fauci to tell him how he motivated his medical career. Fauci replied and asked if he would like to meet in person. When they met last December, Shaikh and Fauci discussed working together on an article about the importance of communication in health care.
To Shaikh’s surprise, they also talked a lot about their families.
“We spent so much time talking about our personal lives,” Shaikh said. “He is so genuine in his curiosity to learn about people.”
Shaikh was also pleasantly surprised that Fauci ended their conversation to check on his patients.
“The best part of my meeting with Dr. Fauci was when he looked at his watch and said, ‘Sorry, I’ve got to go, I’m late for rounds,’” Shaikh said. “You can really tell that interacting with patients is so important to him.”
In a follow-up email after their meeting, Fauci asked Shaikh for his address. Soon after, he received a package from him with a signed copy of his book, “On Call.”
“I was already blown away by his accomplishments and achievements. But in that moment, I was blown away by his character,” Shaikh said. “It just tells you about the kind of person he is.”
With his interest in dermatology, Shaikh hopes to have a multifaceted career like Fauci that includes patient care, research and public health. He said he often thinks back to his meeting with Fauci whenever he’s questioning his dermatology focus.
“In that meeting, I thought, if I can effect change in the way that he did, even on a small level, that would be worth it.”
Supporting Student Research
As a human science major in the School of Health and aspiring OB-GYN, Keerthana Ramanathan (H’26) had been inspired by Fauci’s work long before they met. She didn’t expect he would become a mentor to her though.
Ramanathan has worked as a research intern in the lab of Dr. Richard Schlegel, Distinguished University Professor in the School of Medicine and a professor in the Pathology Department, since her first year at Georgetown. While researching cervical cancer in the lab, she became interested in vaccine hesitancy and spillover, or the way that prior experiences with vaccines impact an individual’s future vaccination behavior. But she couldn’t find much research focusing on young adults and vaccine hesitancy and spillover.
“We’re the next generation and one day, we’re going to be faced with the question about whether we’re going to vaccinate our kids,” she said. “We need to take our health seriously and that starts now.”
Schlegel encouraged Ramanathan to contact Fauci to learn about the subject from his perspective. She met with him in October 2023, and Fauci agreed to help her with a survey she was creating for her secondary honors thesis on why some young people are hesitant to get the HPV vaccine.
“He has served as such an incredible mentor on this project,” she said. “He’s just very engaged and responsive, and you can tell that he very genuinely cares about his students’ work. It’s incredible to see the amount of work he puts in.”
Guidance for an Impactful Career
Gustavo Franco Quaresma de Moura (C’25), a biology major in the College of Arts & Sciences, first met Fauci at a reception welcoming him to Georgetown.
Franco is a leader of the Georgetown University Pre-Med Society and last spring, hosted an event with the society and Fauci about challenges in the U.S. health care system. In the future, they plan to also organize a book signing and a breakfast for undergraduate students with the doctor, he said.
Their connection also helped Franco when he studied abroad in Australia. Fauci connected him with Sharon Lewin, former president of the International AIDS Society, who gave Franco a tour of her lab in Melbourne and participated in a conversation about the state of HIV treatment globally for Franco’s podcast.
Through conversations with Fauci, Franco has developed a stronger understanding of his career options and opportunities.
“He’s helped me weigh the benefits of various routes, including medical school, public health, hospital administration and an MBA,” he said. “More importantly, he’s provided insight into how to balance business and public health work effectively to make a real impact.”
Franco was struck by Fauci’s authenticity and dedication to working with students.
“Over the past year, he’s been balancing political discussions, book events and ongoing public health conversations, yet he still makes time for meaningful student interactions,” he said. “He’s genuinely curious about students and loves a good conversation, and he’s pretty funny too. So if you see him around, don’t hesitate to say hi!”
By Kat Zambon, GUMC Communications
