How Anthony Fauci became the nation's top disease expert

• Dr. Anthony Fauci is one of the most influential figures in the nation when it comes to the coronavirus.
• As a member of the administration's coronavirus task force, he often speaks at White House press briefings and has become a trusted expert on the virus.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Following is a transcript of the video.

Reporter: Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Reporter: Dr. Anthony Fauci.

Reporter: Straight to Dr. Anthony Fauci. We are lucky to have you.

Narrator: Dr. Anthony Fauci is one of the most influential figures in the nation when it comes to the coronavirus.

Fauci: We will see more cases, and things will get worse than they are right now.

Narrator: Fauci, an immunologist, is a top adviser to the White House and the Department of Health and Human Services.

Fauci: So the question arises, is the mitigation working?

Narrator: He's often the one you see on TV during press conferences as a member of the administration's coronavirus task force. He was recently voted the most trusted leader in America on the coronavirus in a Business Insider poll. But how did Fauci become one of the most respected disease experts in the country?

Born in Brooklyn in 1940, Fauci was no stranger to health and medicine, spending time assisting his parents in the pharmacy they owned. And at 79 years old, he has had a long medical career.

It kicked off when he graduated at the top of his class from Cornell University Medical College in 1966. He completed a residency at the New York Hospital- Cornell Medical Center. He was appointed director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in 1984, a position he still holds today.

His role as a top adviser for the government on health concerns has spanned six presidents and has focused on research for a multitude of viruses and illnesses, including HIV, AIDS, SARS, Zika, Ebola, tuberculosis, and malaria. In 2008, he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from George W. Bush.

He now spends his days briefing reporters and advising the president and vice president, while continuing to do additional work as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. He's long been known for his extreme work ethic, and he certainly hasn't slowed down while working on the coronavirus pandemic. He told The New York Times that his current schedule involves working about 20 hours a day. On a recent episode of the New York Times podcast "The Daily," Fauci said: Despite the long hours, he tries to get in exercise when he can, although his normal seven-mile lunchtime runs have dwindled to the occasional power walk during this crisis.

Fauci's increase in popularity hasn't come without concern. He now has increased personal security because of a growing number of death threats he's received, according to CNN. As Fauci continues to advise Trump and appear on press briefings, he sometimes will step in front of Trump to add clarification to the president's statements, including comments he has made on hydroxychloroquine as a potential treatment for COVID-19.

Fauci: That's something that is now being looked at, but we don't have any data to be able to say anything definitively. Trump: But I hope they use it because I'll tell you what, what do you have to lose?

Narrator: Yet Fauci has held firm that he speaks out of his own discretion. And that might be why he's become so popular. Reporter: Are you doing this voluntarily, or did the president —

Fauci: No, I'm doing it. Everything I do is voluntarily. Please. Don't even imply that.