'Just What The Doctor Ordered:' Coronavirus Researchers At UPMC Treated To Cookies With Dr. Anthony Fauci's Likeness
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Sometimes, a little something out of the ordinary is just what the doctor ordered.
In the case of coronavirus researchers, doctors, and nurses at the UPMC and Pitt facilities in Oakland, that's exactly what happened this week.
"When I got the order I'm like, 'you want who? You want what?'" Jess Baldwin recalled.
It isn't every day a bakery gets an order like this one.
"Everybody was just so excited," said Dr. Jaime Cerelli "They were like, 'Oh my goodness, it's Dr. Fauci!' It was just so very nice to see smiles on everybody's faces."
What Pitt was ordering, was Dr. Fauci's face on over six dozen sugar cookies.
"Are we looking for like a portrait or are we looking for like a cartoon, or what do you want?" Baldwin remembers asking.
It ended up being 80 sugar cookies and 80 cupcakes to celebrate the work of Dr. Anthony Fauci. He has become a household name for his work on the coronavirus task force.
As there always seems to be, there is, of course, a Pittsburgh connection.
Dr. Jaime Cerilli at the University of Pittsburgh has known Dr. Fauci since 2003 when they started working together on funding and construction of a regional biocontainment lab at Pitt.
She is glad America and others in the world of research science are getting to know him too.
"I think they just find solace in the fact that they trust him," Dr. Cerilli said. "And that he's been very transparent and honest and tells us the truth of what's going on so people wait to listen."
After more than a month of social distancing, Jess Baldwin took the order in stride.
"We've made some cakes that look like favorite snack foods that people have been eating during quarantine," Baldwin, the owner of JessB Bakes said. "I did a birthday cake that was like a package of Ramen Noodles but for sure, Dr. Fauci's face is probably out there as one of the most interesting things I've ever put on a cookie or a cupcake."
The cookies and cupcakes were passed out in the halls of the hospitals to staff and clinicians and to places like the Center For Vaccine Research - the labs that are squarely focused on COVID-19.
"Are you going to be in the lab? I have some treats for everybody that's hard-working trying to develop a vaccine, and he automatically called my cell phone and he was like, "Oh my goodness, yes!" He was like, "Come up here!'" Recalled Dr. Cerilli.
"It was a nice break for them, especially given the circumstances, but you know working hard to try to find a vaccine," Baldwin said.
