#Dr. Fauci donates his 3D model of COVID to Smithsonian museum

Dr. Anthony Fauci has donated his personal 3-D model of the coronavirus to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in Washington, DC, which honored him with its Great Americans Medal.

“Dr. Fauci has helped save millions of lives and advanced the treatment and our understanding of infectious and immunologic diseases across more than five decades of public service,” museum Director Anthea Hartig said.

“His humanitarianism and dedication truly exemplify what it means to be a Great American,” she added.

Fauci, 80, who has led the nationwide COVID-19 response and is President Joe Biden’s science adviser, was asked by the museum to donate a personal item to mark the pandemic.

He chose the lumpy blue and orange ball that he has used to explain the complexities of the virus in myriad interviews.

The model, which was made with a 3-D printer, shows what the Smithsonian’s announcement calls “the various components of the SARS-CoV-2 virion (the complete, infectious form of the virus), including the spike protein.”

“This has been a terrible year in so many respects,” said Fauci, the director of the US National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. “Decades from now, people will be talking about the experience that we went through.”

In 2008, Fauci received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award, from then-President George W. Bush for his decades of work, dating back to the earliest days of the AIDS crisis.

Previous recipients of the Great Americans Medal include former secretaries of state Madeleine K. Albright and Gen. Colin L. Powell, tennis star Billie Jean King and musician Paul Simon.

With Post wires