The Hollywood star Julia Roberts has just announced that she will be presenting an “Award of Courage” to Dr. Anthony Fauci, who she says is her “personal hero.”

“You have been a beacon for us, and so, for me it is such a great thrill to represent amfAR in presenting this to you,” Roberts told People Magazine. “There’s just no one more deserving, and you’ve been tireless, and true for all of us, and I just want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart.”

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The Academy Award-winning actress will be presenting Fauci with amfAR’s Award of Courage at the organization’s virtual “A Gala for Our Time” event on March 4.

This comes after amfAR [The Foundation for AIDS Research] temporarily expanded the scope of its work to include research on COVID-19. Fauci appears to be loving the reaction that he is getting from the Hollywood star.

“Thank you so much, Julia, those are such very kind words, I really do appreciate them,” said Fauci. “Coming from you, that means an awful lot to me. We see the awards like this are wonderful, and it’s always nice to get recognition.”

Fauci, who is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), then praised the “unsung heroes” who “put their lives and their safety on the line,” and who do not get the same type of recognition that he does.

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“Many of the unsung heroes out there, I want to make sure that we tip out hat to them,” said Fauci. “Particularly the health care workers who, very bravely, every day, put their lives and their safety on the line to take care of terribly ill people.”

“So, we’re all really part of the team,” he continued. “I might be a bit more visible than they are, but what they do is equally as important as anything that I do. So, thank you very much for those very kind words. I will hold them dear to me for a long time.”

In May of last year, Roberts called Fauci her “personal hero” as she talked to him on a video chat.

“Oh, this is such a thrill,” Roberts said. “This is a thrill for me because there are very few experts of anything in the world and you truly have emerged as a personal hero for me. Just to have this little corner of your time for us is such a joy.”

This piece was written by James Samson on February 26, 2021. It originally appeared in LifeZette and is used by permission.

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