During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Peter J. Hotez became one of the nation’s most trusted voices, appearing daily on major news networks like MSNBC, NPR and BBC to keep the public informed on the virus and vaccines. His efforts to promote public health and co-leading the efforts to develop a patent-free COVID-19 vaccine technology, earned him widespread recognition — including a Nobel Prize nomination with Dr. Maria Elena Bottazzi. In parallel, he has led national efforts for two decades to combat growing anti-vaccine activism, authoring the landmark book about his daughter “Vaccines Did Not Cause Rachel’s Autism” (JHU Press). In the process, Dr. Hotez also became a main target of anti-science propagandists.
This event marked the launch of Dr. Hotez’s newest book, “The Deadly Rise of Anti-science: A Scientist’s Warning” (JHU Press, 2023). In it, Dr. Hotez provides an eyewitness account of the anti-vaccine movement’s evolution into an increasingly mainstream rejection of science in American politics. He describes the devastating consequences it has had on Americans’ health and offers ways to combat science denial and save lives.
On Oct. 2 at Baker Hall, Dr. Hotez delivered a lecture on the rise of anti-science in the U.S. before engaging in a discussion with Lisa Gray, op-ed editor at the Houston Chronicle. A signing of Dr. Hotez’s book took place after the lecture. Copies of the book were available for purchase before and after the lecture courtesy of Brazos Bookstore.
This event was free and open to the public. It was co-sponsored by Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy and the Houston Chronicle.
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Agenda
5:00 pm — Reception
5:30 pm — Lecture
6:00 pm — Moderated Q&A
7:00 pm — Book Signing
Registration
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Participants
Featured Speaker
Peter J. Hotez, M.D., Ph.D., is the Baker Institute fellow in disease and poverty. He is dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine, professor of pediatrics and molecular virology and microbiology and co-director of Texas Children’s enter for Vaccine Development at Baylor College of Medicine where he also holds the Texas Children’s Hospital Endowed Chair of Tropical Pediatrics. Dr. Hotez is an internationally recognized physician-scientist with expertise in neglected tropical diseases and vaccine development, and the author of four books with Johns Hopkins University Press. In 2015-16 he served as U.S. Science Envoy in the State Department and for the White House. He holds several honorary doctorates and is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and has been recognized by the American Medical Association (AMA), Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), American College of Physicians (ACP), and American Medical Writers Association (AMWA).
Moderator
Lisa Gray
Op-ed Editor, Houston Chronicle
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