American Masters: Dr. Tony Fauci

Tuesday, March 21 at 7 p.m.

New documentary follows Dr. Fauci for over a year, offering a behind-the-scenes look at his career, his struggles and successes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Dr. Anthony Fauci became a household name during the AIDS crisis of the ‘80s and ‘90s. The physician-scientist and immunologist has since served as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and the Chief Medical Advisor to the President for seven different administrations in the U.S. In 2020, he found himself in the spotlight again as the COVID-19 pandemic ravaged the globe. Beginning with the inauguration of President Joe Biden and spanning two years, American Masters: Dr. Tony Fauci captures America’s most prominent physician, as he reflects on the pandemics that have shaped his 50-year career.

See Dr. Fauci at home, in his office and in the corridors of power, as he grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic and his 50-year career as the nation’s leading public health advocate. American Masters: Dr. Tony Fauci reveals a rarely seen side of the physician, husband and father as he confronts political backlash, a new administration and questions of the future. The film had its world premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on February 10, as part of the film festival’s documentary competition. 

 Dr. Fauci’s prerogative to help others, including those who cannot afford medical treatment, is modeled upon his father’s compassionate service as a pharmacist in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. He attended Cornell University Medical College (now Weill Cornell Medicine), where he specialized in adult internal medicine, focusing mainly on infectious diseases and the immune system. Dr. Fauci graduated first in his class with a Doctor of Medicine degree in 1966, completed his internship and residency in internal medicine at New York Hospital-Cornell Medical Center (now NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center), and joined the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a clinical associate in the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases’ (NIAID) Laboratory of Clinical Investigation in 1968. Dr. Fauci became the director of NIAID in 1984, and he has led the United States’ efforts against such viral diseases as HIV/AIDS, SARS, Ebola, COVID-19, and more.