Profiles in Science for Science Librarians: Anthony S. Fauci, M.D.

Tony Fauci is arguably America's best known clinical investigator and federal medical research administrator. He has authored a torrent of papers in research and professional journals (1,368 as of May 15, 2013) and has appeared well over 100 times on TV news shows explaining aspects of America's fight against autoimmune and infectious diseases, particularly AIDS. The vast majority of today's American medical students and their librarians will also recognize him as editor in chief of the best-selling textbookHarrison's Principles of Internal Medicine. He has been awarded honorary degrees by thirty-eight universities, including Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Penn, and Georgetown. His productivity and visibility have spanned three generations of Americans, and yet his work has probably had an even greater impact far beyond our borders. An analysis of the evolving assortment of journals in which he has been published over the course of his career discloses three major patterns: a progressively higher proportion of more prestigious titles as he tackled bigger and bigger scientific and clinical challenges; an extraordinary output of “big picture” papers (generally one in every twenty of his papers were invited review articles); as well as great willingness to publish in brand-new journals (twenty-six), most of which would go on to be highly successful. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]