Infectious disease expert, Dr. Anthony Fauci, announced on Monday that he is leaving his government service role as chief medical advisor to the Biden administration, and head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), at the end of the year. He said he is not retiring. 

Fauci was one of the main figures during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

He was often a controversial figure, His commitment to science made him challenge the former President on the use of hydroxychloroquine as a COVID treatment, and fought misinformation regarding mask mandates. He became a household name by doing so.

Fauci, 81-years-old, advised seven different US presidents, beginning with Ronald Reagan. He advised multiple administrations during the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the West Nile virus outbreak, the 2001 anthrax attacks, influenza, bird flu threats, Ebola, Zika, and, most recently, COVID-19.

“After more than 50 years of government service, I plan to pursue the next phase of my career while I still have so much energy and passion for my field,” Fauci said in a statement. 

Fauci joined the National Institutes of Health in 1968 when he was only 27, and he eventually became director of the NIAID in 1984. In 2008, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by then President George W. Bush.

President Joe Biden said right after he was elected, he gave Fauci a call. Biden praised him as a “dedicated public servant” in a statement issued to the press on Monday. “Because of Dr. Fauci’s many contributions to public health, lives here in the United States and around the world have been saved,” the Biden said.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Fauci was working day and night on little sleep. 

Fauci had become so famous, Brad Pitt impersonated him in a skit on “Saturday Night Live.” Watch it here.