San Francisco Mayor London Breed, left, presented the key to the city to Dr. Anthony Fauci during a ceremony in the mayor's office at City Hall Wednesday, October 4. A news release stated Breed cited Fauci's leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic and his decades-long work leading the fight against HIV/AIDS when she honored him. City Health Director Dr. Grant Colfax, a gay man, was in attendance at the ceremony. Fauci, who led the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for nearly four decades, retired from government service in 2022. He oversaw an extensive research portfolio of basic and applied research to prevent, diagnose, and treat established infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS, respiratory infections, tuberculosis, and malaria as well as emerging diseases such as Ebola, Zika and COVID-19. Fauci stated, "It is such a wonderful honor for me to receive the key to the City of San Francisco, a city that I love and have enjoyed visiting often over the past 50 years, and where I have so many friends and academic collaborators." The key is the City and County of San Francisco's highest honor, according to the release.
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