Akiko Iwasaki

The COVID-19 pandemic has left a lingering imprint on 65 million people worldwide suffering persistent symptoms after their acute illness has resolved. Yale professor Akiko Iwasaki is a renowned immunologist whom I have known since her fellowship at the National Institutes of Health 25 years ago marked her as a rising star. Today, she is at the top of her game. Her deep appreciation of the regulation of the human immune system has allowed her to lead the way in delineating the mechanisms of how it reacts to COVID-19, and the consequences of Long COVID. Her expertise in innate immunity—or how the immune system first reacts to pathogens—is providing key insights into Long COVID, validating patient experiences and informing treatment strategies. Her accomplishments have earned her election to both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine. Her leadership and her compassion, including championing women and people of color in science, has enormously benefited the scientific enterprise, and all of us.

Fauci is a professor in the Georgetown University School of Medicine and a former director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the U.S. National Institutes of Health