PETER J. HOTEZ
Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology and Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine; Co-Director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development
Keynote Speaker in the Our Changing Global Environment Symposia's Life and Health Track
Challenges of Developing New Vaccines for Neglected Tropical Diseases
His talk at the Annual Meeting will focus on the challenges of developing new vaccines for neglected diseases, while facing modern 21st century forces, including shifting poverty, war and conflict, urbanization, and climate change. As a vaccine scientist, pediatrician, and parent of an adult daughter with autism, he will also highlight his struggles against a growing antivaccine movement.
Biography
Peter J. Hotez, MD, PhD, is an internationally-recognized pediatrician-scientist in neglected tropical diseases and vaccine development. Hotez has authored more than 450 original papers and is the author of three books including Forgotten People, Forgotten Diseases; Blue Marble Health; and Vaccines Did Not Cause Rachel’s Autism. He is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and past President of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. He served as U.S. Science Envoy in the Obama Administration. In 2017 he was named by Fortune as one of the 34 most influential people in health care, while in 2018 he received the Sustained Leadership Award from Research!America.