Dr. Anthony Fauci awarded Dan David Prize for COVID-19 response

Feb. 15 (UPI) -- Dr. Anthony Fauci was one of several laureates to be awarded the Israeli-based Dan David Prize on Monday.

Fauci, who has served as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, was awarded the prizefor "defending science" and advocating for COVID-19 vaccines.

"As NIAID director he has led research efforts on the development of diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines for COVID-19. He is the voice of reason for randomized, controlled trials for evaluating antiviral drugs and other therapeutics," the organization said. "These efforts have led to useful therapeutics that have markedly reduced death rates for hospitalized COVID-19 patients."

Fauci became well-known globally after being featured in daily briefings on the COVID-19 pandemic and publicly clashing at times with former President Donald Trump. He was also nominated as a candidate for Time's 2020 Person of the Year.

Prof. Ariel Porat, president of Tel Aviv University and chair of the Dan David Prize Board, noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has "presented humanity with new challenges" that influenced the organization's choice of laureates.

"This year, we decided to honor fields at the forefront of the battle against the virus -- health and medicine," he told The Jerusalem Post. "International review committees selected this year's laureates for their pioneering work and their exceptional contributions to humanity in these fields, in three time dimensions -- past, present and future."

Fauci received the award for public health for the present, while Prof. Alison Bashford, Prof. Katharine Park and Prof. Keith Wailoo received the past award for the history of health and medicine and the future prize for molecular medicine went to Prof. Zelig Eshhar, Dr. Carl June and Dr. Steven Rosenberg.

All seven winners will share the $3 million prize and be honored at an online ceremony in May.

"Our laureates for this year have probed how humanity has dealt with sickness and pandemics throughout history; they have provided relief, guidance and leadership in dealing with current outbreaks," Ariel David, director of the Dan David Foundation and son of its founder told The Jerusalem Times.