Fauci has made a number of basic scientific observations that contribute to the current understanding of the regulation of the human immune response, and is recognized for delineating the mechanisms whereby
immunosuppressive agents adapt to the human immune response. He has developed therapies for formerly fatal diseases such as
polyarteritis nodosa,
granulomatosis with polyangiitis, and
lymphomatoid granulomatosis. In a 1985
Stanford University Arthritis Center Survey of the American Rheumatism Association, membership ranked Fauci's work on the treatment of
polyarteritis nodosa and granulomatosis with polyangiitis as one of the most important advances in patient management in
rheumatology over the previous 20 years.
Fauci has made influential contributions to the understanding of how
HIV destroys the body's defenses leading to the progression to
AIDS. He also has outlined the mechanisms of induction of
HIV expression by endogenous
cytokines. Fauci has played an important role in developing strategies for the therapy and immune reconstitution of patients with this disease, as well as for a
vaccine to prevent HIV infection. His current research is concentrated on identifying the nature of the immunopathogenic mechanisms of HIV infection and the scope of the body's immune responses to HIV.
In 2003, the
Institute for Scientific Information indicated that Fauci was the 13th most-cited scientist during the twenty-year period from 1983 to 2002. He was the ninth most-cited scientist in immunology in the period January 1993 to June 30, 2003.
