91原创

Biden Owens opened the dialogue by asking something everyone in the audience was wondering: What is it like to advise a sitting president? The interactions, he said, were always determined by the public health issue faced by that presidential administration.聽

With Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, there were the early years of HIV. For George W. Bush, there were the anthrax attacks that followed Sept. 11. In between, President Bill Clinton oversaw years when HIV went from a death sentence to something more treatable with medication. Barack Obama was in the White House for three viral outbreaks: the 2009 swine flu, Ebola and Zika. Then there was the COVID-19 pandemic, which straddled the presidencies of Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

No matter the crisis, for Fauci, the job remained the same: to always tell the truth.

The first call to come to the White House to speak to a president came during the Reagan Administration.聽

鈥淎 very wise person who was a conservative Republican who served in the Nixon White House told me, 鈥榃henever you walk into a White House to advise a president or the president鈥檚 staff, tell yourself this might be the last time I walk into this building,鈥欌�� Fauci recalled. 鈥淏ecause if you go in there thinking this is heady, you might slip and tell that person something you think they might want to hear, as opposed to an inconvenient truth that they may not like.鈥�

So, what is a trusted scientific leader to do in these circumstances?

鈥淚鈥檝e had to deliver sometimes inconvenient messages, sometimes messages of hope and understanding,鈥� Fauci said. 鈥淎s it turns out, when you do that, you gain the respect in Washington that you鈥檙e going to tell the truth.鈥澛�

Today鈥檚 challenges include the mis- and disinformation that pervades our daily information. Misinformation happens when someone gets it wrong 鈥� humans are fallible, after all, and we sometimes make mistakes. Disinformation is far more nefarious, intentionally false or designed to mislead.

Social media platforms make circulating this type of information easy 鈥� and fast 鈥� creating a space where the 鈥渙utlandish becomes accepted鈥� as truth quite readily. As for artificial intelligence, well, that鈥檚 just an opportunity for 鈥渄isinformation on steroids,鈥� Fauci said.

As society moves forward alongside COVID-19 and many other viruses and diseases, Biden Owens wondered, 鈥淲hat鈥檚 coming on the horizon?鈥澛�

鈥淚 don鈥檛 know [when the next one] is going to occur, but I know what we need to do,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e need to be very careful in pandemic preparedness, both from a scientific and a public health standpoint, and put in place measures to recognize it and to respond rapidly. What we need to do better is to have a public health infrastructure that is more attuned to surveillance.鈥�

Transparency, particularly globally, will be key. A sensitivity to global equity and access to life-saving countermeasures is also important. The COVID-19 virus is still evolving and changing. Globally, about 20 million people have died from COVID-19. In the U.S., about 1.8 million Americans have died.

It鈥檚 a message that hit home for the audience.

The discussion, held May 3 at Clayton Hall on 91原创鈥檚 Newark campus by the Biden Institute, was among the events held in recognition of the Disaster Research Center鈥檚 60th anniversary. According to co-director Tricia Wachtendorf, the DRC was the first center in the world of its kind.聽

鈥淒RC鈥檚 long legacy of research is the foundation of much of what we know about disasters, how to respond to them, how to recover from them and how to mitigate them,鈥� Wachtendorf said.

A larger 鈥渃elebratory workshop鈥� brought together practitioners, scholars and students from across the world, many of whom were in the audience, to consider, as noted by DRC co-director James Kendra, disaster management challenges confronting the world and the solutions needed to address them. DRC advances innovative disaster research and educates tomorrow鈥檚 scholars and emergency management practitioners.聽

Additionally, the Biden School of Public Policy and Administration at 91原创 serves as a living lab where traditional education meets hands-on engagement to equip students with the tools to navigate challenging times and develop solutions to make the world a better place.

鈥淲e count among our ranks contributors to academia, politics, government, law, policy, activism, nonprofits and the private sector,鈥� said Joe Trainor, interim dean of the Biden School and a DRC core faculty member.聽

Tomorrow鈥檚 problem-solvers

Students at the event had several questions for Fauci, too.聽

Roxanne Evande, a doctoral student in the College of Health Sciences, was curious whether Fauci had any suggestions for explaining serious scientific matters to a non-expert audience without sacrificing technical accuracy or overexplaining.

He offered four concise tips:

• Know your audience.

• Make one or two points, no more.

• Focus on whether people understand what you are saying, not on what they think about you.

• Don鈥檛 give up when people don鈥檛 do what you suggest.聽

Additionally, he reminded the audience that it is a public health practitioner鈥檚 job to tell people when the science evolves based on data and evidence.

鈥淭his is science correcting itself,鈥� Fauci said.

Guadalupe Guevara, a senior sociology and global studies double major, noted that marginalized communities can sometimes be deprioritized in a disaster or public health response. She questioned what public health practitioners can do to ensure all sectors of the community are cared for, even when time or resources are short.聽

Fauci acknowledged that epidemics do a great job of showing where the gaps are and illuminating the social determinants of health, factors that are non-medical that influence health outcomes like someone鈥檚 age or where they live or work.聽

One silver lining, Fauci said, is that access can neutralize these social determinants of health, though it can take decades to realize these benefits. Another critical point to proper response in a public health disaster is listening to people from all sectors.

鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to make the investment of time and listen to people from multiple avenues or sectors. There is always a kernel that will help you in your response,鈥� he said.

Giuseppe Lelow, a visiting doctoral student in the Disaster Research Center from Italy, recalled the severe impacts faced by his country in the early days of the pandemic.聽

鈥淒isasters do not recognize national boundaries,鈥� Lelow said, before asking what challenges need to be addressed so we are ready to confront the next global public health crisis. After 54 years of service at the NIH across the tenure of seven different sitting presidents, Fauci鈥檚 reply was simple.

鈥淲e need to act like a global community,鈥� he said.

Medal of Distinction

In closing, Dr. Joan Coker, a member of the 91原创 Board of Trustees, joined President Assanis on stage to present Fauci with the University鈥檚 Medal of Distinction. One of the University鈥檚 highest honors, the medal is awarded to individuals who have made humanitarian, cultural or intellectual contributions to society, have achieved noteworthy success or served the community in a significant way.

Coker, who is a physician in private practice, began with an emotional message, thanking Fauci for his leadership and dedication during the pandemic and throughout his inspirational research career, which has literally saved millions of lives.

鈥淚t鈥檚 been tough on the front line, but when you鈥檝e got a leader who gets it and speaks truth to power, you can make it,鈥� Coker said. 鈥淥n behalf of the Board of Trustees 鈥� and every front-line worker all over the world 鈥� I cannot express to you how grateful we are 鈥� Your decades of expertise and guidance on global health issues to the country鈥檚 executive leadership, including during the COVID-19 pandemic, has been crucial to the health and well-being of Americans and for communities around the world.鈥�