Peter Hotez

Peter Hotez
Hotez in 2019
Born
Peter Jay Hotez

(1958-05-05) May 5, 1958 (age 68)
Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.
Education
Scientific career
FieldsVaccinology, neglected tropical disease control, public policy, global health
Workplaces

Peter Jay Hotez (born May 5, 1958) is an American scientist, physician, pediatrician, and advocate in the fields of global health, vaccinology, and neglected tropical disease control. At Baylor University, Hotez serves as the founding dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine, as a professor of pediatrics, virology, and microbiology, and as University Professor of Biology. At Texas Children's Hospital, he is the director of the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development and holds its Endowed Chair in Tropical Pediatrics.

Hotez previously served as president of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. He is a founding editor-in-chief of PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases. Hotez is the co-director of Parasites Without Borders, a global nonprofit organization with a focus on those suffering from parasitic diseases in subtropical environments.

Early life and education

Hotez was born in Hartford, Connecticut. His father Edward J. Hotez was a World War II veteran in the United States Navy.

He grew up in West Hartford and is a graduate of Hall High School. In 1980, he earned a bachelor of arts in molecular biophysics and biochemistry, magna cum laude (Phi Beta Kappa) from Yale University.

In 1986, he was awarded a doctor of philosophy from Rockefeller University. In 1987, he was awarded a doctor of medicine degree from Weill Cornell Medical College. His doctoral dissertation and postdoctoral research were in hookworm molecular pathogenesis and vaccine development.

Research and career

Early research

Hotez held postdoctoral positions in molecular parasitology and pediatric infectious diseases at Yale University School of Medicine, where he later became an assistant professor in 1992 and an associate professor in 1995. His early research focused on the pathogenesis and molecular mechanisms of human hookworm infection that eventually led to his patented vaccine, which went into clinical trials, as well as a vaccine against schistosomiasis, also researched in clinical trials, either of which could be the first successful vaccine for humans to protect against a multicellular parasite.

Neglected tropical diseases

Beginning in 2000, Hotez served as a professor and Chair of the Department of Microbiology and Tropical Medicine at the George Washington University. The department was renamed the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Tropical Medicine in 2005. He remained in that position until 2011.

Following the issuance of the World Health Organization (WHO) Millennium Development Goals in 2000, Hotez, along with Alan Fenwick and David Molyneux, led a global effort to rename diseases then termed simply "other diseases" as "neglected tropical diseases" (NTDs), and promoted the use of therapeutic and preventive chemotherapy through a combination of drugs entitled the "rapid-impact package". Hotez has advocated for increased efforts to control NTDs since 2005 through publications and speaking engagements, helping to gain increased awareness resulting in a decrease of prevalence and disease burden in many areas.

Hotez led the Sabin Vaccine Institute in Washington, D.C., and helped establish PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, the first online open-access medical journal focused exclusively on neglected tropical diseases.

Vaccine development

In addition to continuing work on vaccines already in clinical trials for hookworm, and schistosomiasis, in 2010, Hotez led a team of researchers developing vaccines against other diseases including leishmaniasis, Chagas disease, SARS, and MERS. As of 2020, he was working in the development of a COVUD-19 vaccine. With Maria Elena Bottazzi, he led the team that designed the Corbevax vaccine.

Public dialogue

Hotez used his public profile on Twitter and other social media platforms to combat COVID-19 misinformation and vaccine misinformation in general. He appeared as an invited expert on cable and network television news programs, as well as on radio programs. In an interview with the American Medical Association, Hotez noted that communicating clear messages about the ongoing pandemic was of vital importance in an environment that was rife with confusing and misleading messages: "We've been hearing either the sky was falling or there was no problem... the reality is more nuanced than that, and that requires some explanation based on scientific principles."

Hotez has warned that, contrary to popular belief, more young adults than expected would be hospitalized due to the COVID-19 pandemic: "The message is that we've been trying to appeal to younger adults and have them shelter away and do the social distancing and explaining why they're at risk for transmitting the virus to vulnerable populations." In 2020, he warned against optimistic COVID-19 vaccine development timelines, arguing that rushing the scientific process could cause problems, "potentially mak[ing] individuals worse and threaten[ing] vaccine development in the U.S." On August 7, 2020, he said in a television interview that the U.S. can expect to be affected by COVID-19 for "years and years" even after Americans are vaccinated. In that interview, he blamed the federal government for not taking action to contain the spread of the virus.

Like many other public health experts who used social media during the pandemic, Hotez was the target of online harassment. He had already experienced significant prior harassment because of his vaccine advocacy, including at his lectures, receiving online threats, and even being blamed for his daughter's autism.

In June 2023, he tweeted his concerns about Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sharing misinformation about vaccines on the Joe Rogan podcast. Rogan, Kennedy, and Twitter owner Elon Musk asked Hotez to participate in a debate on the podcast. After he declined the invitation, Hotez was harassed by their fans, with anti-vaccine activist Alex Rosen confronting him at his home. At approximately the same time, he had been the subject of attacks by far-right followers of Steve Bannon and Tucker Carlson who separately had denigrated him. In October 2023, he was given the inaugural Anthony Fauci Courage in Leadership Award from the Infectious Diseases Society of America for his efforts in combating anti-science. During an interview in 2026, he discussed his motivations regarding his decision to decline the invitations, particularly his concern that debating Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on the podcast would "legitimize him as a serious presidential candidate".

Other activities

Hotez issued a proposal entitled "Science Tikkun" in 2025. It addresses bioscience policy, diplomacy, and advocacy in a pandemic framework focused on climate activism, pandemic prevention, vaccine development, neurodiversity research, fighting selective discrimination against scientists for purely personal characteristics, and countering anti-science activities.

Personal life

Hotez is the parent of an autistic daughter. In his 2018 book Vaccines Did Not Cause Rachel's Autism: My Journey As a Vaccine Scientist, Pediatrician, and Autism Dad, he declared that vaccines did not cause the autism his daughter suffers from.

Awards and memberships

Selected awards and memberships include:

In 2008, he was elected to membership in the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. He is an ambassador of the Paul G. Rogers Society for Global Health Research, a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics (FAAP), a member of the World Health Organization Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee for WHO TDR (Special Programme on Tropical Diseases Research), and in 2011, Hotez was appointed as a member of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Council of Councils.

He is a member of the inaugural class of Fellows of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.

In 2018, Hotez was elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Hotez was named in the Time 2024 list of the influential people in health.

Publications and media

Scientific reference works

Hotez is a co-editor of Krugman's Infectious Diseases of Children, 11th Edition. He is co-editor of Manson's Tropical Diseases, 23rd Edition and Feigin and Cherry's Textbook of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, 7th Edition.

He is the co-author of the reference work entitled, Parasitic Diseases, 5th Edition.

Individual works

Co-authored works

References

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  2. ↑ "Expert named to lead new tropical disease research center". Houston Chronicle. June 8, 2011. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  3. ↑ "34 Leaders Who Are Changing Health Care". Fortune. April 20, 2017. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  4. ↑ "Dr. Peter Hotez Wins Weill Cornell Medical College Alumni Award of Distinction". WCM Newsroom. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
  5. ↑ Says, Goodprizwomen (July 6, 2016). "What's with these Vector-borne Neglected Tropical Diseases?". Speaking of Medicine and Health. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
  6. ↑ Bardi, Jennifer (December 7, 2022). "A Virulent Antisemitism: An Interview with Dr. Peter Hotez". Moment. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
  7. ↑ "Edward J. Hotez". Hartford Courant. January 11, 2015. Retrieved November 27, 2020.
  8. ↑ Hotez, Peter [@PeterHotez] (July 10, 2020). "This is my dad, Eddie Hotez, buried in a Jewish cemetery with military honors in 2015. He didn't fight at Okinawa Saipan Philippines, so we could descend into chaos. We have the tools now to defeat this virus, make schools, colleges, even the NFL, safe by the fall. Working on it" (Tweet). Retrieved November 27, 2020 – via Twitter.
  9. ↑ Hotez, Peter J. "Curriculum Vitae & Bibliography". Baker Institute. Retrieved September 18, 2017.
  10. ↑ "Peter Hotez: Diseases We Can Stop But Don't". USC Institute on Inequalities in Global Health. Retrieved September 20, 2023.
  11. 1 2 "Safety and Immunogenicity of a Human Hookworm Candidate Vaccine With or Without Additional Adjuvant in Brazilian Adults". No. NCT01261130. NIH US National Library of Medicine. ClinicalTrials.gov.
  12. ↑ Diemert, David J.; Zumer, Maria; Campbell, Doreen; Grahek, Shannon; Li, Guangzhao; Peng, Jin; Elena Bottazzi, Maria; Hotez, Peter; Bethony, Jeffrey (October 6, 2022). "Safety and immunogenicity of the Na-APR-1 hookworm vaccine in infection-naïve adults". Vaccine. 40 (42): 6084–6092. doi:10.1016/j.vaccine.2022.09.017. ISSN 1873-2518. PMC 9549940. PMID 36114129.
  13. 1 2 "A Phase I Study of the Safety, Reactogenicity, and Immunogenicity of Sm-TSP-2/Alhydrogel® With or Without GLA-AF for Intestinal Schistosomiasis in Healthy Adults". No. NCT02337855. NIH US National Library of Medicine. ClinicalTrials.gov.
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  21. ↑ Taylor, Adam (December 30, 2021). "A new coronavirus vaccine heading to India was developed by a small team in Texas. It expects nothing in return". The Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved December 31, 2021.
  22. ↑ Hotez, Peter (April 1, 2020). "The timetable for a coronavirus vaccine is 18 months. Experts say that's risky" (Interview). Interviewed by Robert Kuznia. CNN. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  23. ↑ Hotez, Peter (April 1, 2020). "Dr. Peter Hotez: New data shows why young people must take COVID-19 spread seriously" (Interview). Interviewed by Fox News. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  24. ↑ Hotez, Peter (March 30, 2020). "Scientist Peter Hotez on Why Vaccine Development is 'Critical to the Security of Our Nation'" (Interview). Interviewed by Texas Observer. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  25. ↑ Hotez, Peter (February 28, 2020). "Doctor uses reach of social media to ease COVID-19 pandemic fears" (Interview). Interviewed by American Medical Association. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  26. ↑ Hotez, Peter (April 1, 2020). "Dr. Peter Hotez: New data shows why young people must take COVID-19 spread seriously" (Interview). Interviewed by Fox News. Retrieved March 19, 2020.
  27. ↑ Hotez, Peter (March 9, 2020). "Reality check: How long could it take to develop coronavirus vaccine?" (Interview). Interviewed by KHOU. Retrieved April 1, 2020.
  28. ↑ Moran, Lee (August 8, 2020). "Vaccine Expert Has Grim Prediction Of What Coronavirus Will Do 'For Years And Years'". HuffPost. Retrieved October 11, 2020.
  29. 1 2 Pendergrast, Tricia; Royan, Regina; Arora, Vineet (June 23, 2023). "Peter Hotez is not alone: Online harassment of doctors is a public health issue". STAT. Retrieved June 23, 2023.
  30. ↑ Interlandi, Jeneen (June 2, 2019). "When Defending Vaccines Gets Ugly". The New York Times. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  31. ↑ Munce, Megan Fan (June 19, 2023). "COVID-19 expert Peter Hotez harassed outside his home by anti-vaccine advocates". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
  32. ↑ Maruf, Ramishah (June 19, 2023). "A prominent vaccine scientist says he was 'stalked' in front of home after Joe Rogan Twitter exchange | CNN Business". CNN. Retrieved September 19, 2023.
  33. ↑ "Dr. Peter Hotez on the anti-science movement and declining Joe Rogan's debate challenge". American Medical Association. July 13, 2023. Retrieved January 19, 2024.
  34. ↑ Samarasekera, Udani (2024). "Peter Hotez: physician-scientist-warrior combating anti-science". The Lancet. 403 (10422): 134. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(24)00007-2.
  35. ↑ August 3, 2026 interview by Jim Acosta
  36. ↑ Hotez, Peter (May 16, 2025). "Science tikkun: a bioscience pandemic framework in a Hebrew tradition of global repair". Molecular Medicine. 31 (1). doi:10.1186/s10020-025-01244-z. ISSN 1528-3658. PMC 12083044. PMID 40380137.
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  38. ↑ "Bailey K. Ashford Medal". American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  39. ↑ "Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine to Receive B'nai B'rith's Distinguished Achievement Award" (Press release). March 1, 2017. Retrieved November 17, 2017.
  40. ↑ "Noticias de actualidad, emprendimientos de éxito en el ambito del cine para adultos o Porno".
  41. ↑ "Internationally recognized physician-scientist receives honorary degree". Roanoke College News. Roanoke College. May 16, 2022. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
  42. ↑ "Dr. Peter J. Hotez to deliver commencement keynote address". CUNY Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy. May 2, 2023. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
  43. ↑ Robeznieks, Andis (February 4, 2022). "Vaccine champion Dr. Peter Hotez lands one of AMA's highest honors". American Medical Association. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
  44. ↑ "Peter Hotez". IDSA Home. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
  45. ↑ "Dr. Peter Hotez to be honored with prestigious Winslow Medal". Yale School of Medicine. September 12, 2024. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
  46. ↑ "Mendel Medal | Villanova University". Villanova.edu. Retrieved August 26, 2026.
  47. ↑ Dellinger, Jeff. ""Science Under Siege" Authors Michael Mann and Peter J. Hotez to Receive the 2026 Balles Prize for Critical Thinking". Center for Inquiry. Retrieved April 21, 2026.
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  53. ↑ "TIME100 Health". Time. Archived from the original on September 23, 2024. Retrieved September 23, 2024.
  54. ↑ Arvin Ann (2004) [1998]. "Krugman's Infectious Diseases of Children". The New England Journal of Medicine. 338 (21) (10th/11th ed.). Elsevier Health Sciences: 785. doi:10.1056/NEJM199805213382119. ISBN 978-0-8151-5251-4. OL 687625M.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: periodical has ISBN (link)
  55. ↑ Parasitic Diseases, Fifth Edition: 9780970002778: Medicine & Health Science Books @. Apple Tree Productions. 2005. ISBN 978-0970002778.
  56. ↑ Mann, Michael E.; Hotez, Peter J. (September 9, 2025). Science Under Siege: How to Fight the Five Most Powerful Forces that Threaten our World (1st ed.). Hachette Book Group. ISBN 1541705491.