Biography
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 and professor of pediatrics and molecular virology and microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine, where he is also chief of the Section of Pediatric Tropical Medicine and the Texas Children’s Hospital Endowed Chair of Tropical Pediatrics.
Hotez is an internationally recognized physician-scientist with expertise in neglected tropical diseases and vaccine development. He leads the only product development partnership for developing new vaccines for hookworm, schistosomiasis and Chagas disease.
He is the author of more than 400 original papers and the acclaimed book “Forgotten People, Forgotten Diseases” (ASM Press). Hotez previously served as president of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and as founding editor-in-chief of PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases. He is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine (IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences. In 2011, he was awarded the Abraham Horwitz Award for Excellence in Leadership in Inter-American Health by the Pan American Health Organization of the World Health Organization. In 2015, the White House and U.S. State Department selected Hotez as a United States science envoy. He obtained his undergraduate degree in molecular biophysics from Yale University in 1980 (Phi Beta Kappa), followed by a Ph.D. in biochemical parasitology from Rockefeller University in 1986 and an M.D. from Weil Cornell Medical College in 1987.
Contact him at hotez@bcm.edu or (713) 798-1199.
Recent Publications
What You Need to Know About the New Omicron Boosters
The new omicron booster shot protects against the COVID-19 subvariant that’s currently prevalent in Texas and the United States. “The key is to be mindful of your own vaccination situation and keep up with your boosters," Dr. Peter Hotez, the Baker Institute fellow in disease and poverty, told Texas Standard. You should be able to get the new one — and you shouldn’t wait, he added.
Whatever Happened to the New No-Patent COVID Vaccine Touted as a Global Game Changer?
Developed by fellow Dr. Peter Hotez and Maria Elena Bottazzi, Corbevax has now been administered to 70 million adolescents in India. This low-cost, easy-to-make, and patent-free COVID-19 vaccine was recently authorized for use as a booster in adults.
Monkeypox Vaccine: Are the Side Effects Worth It?
"The best way to ensure you won't become infected is to get vaccinated," said Dr. Peter Hotez, the Baker Institute fellow in disease and poverty. "Monkeypox, although rarely fatal, is a serious and debilitating infectious disease, and could require hospitalization."
External Publications
"Counteract the Anti-Vaccine, Anti-Science Aggression," USA Today, June 2, 2021.
"The Only Way to Resolve the Wuhan ‘Lab Leak’ Controversy," The Daily Beast, May 27, 2021.
"Zika Threat is One About Which We Should be Concerned," Houston Chronicle, January 30, 2016.
"These Diseases Could Make News in Texas in 2016," Houston Chronicle, January 6, 2016.
"Without Immunization, Texas Could See a Return of the Plagues," TribTalk, October 27, 2015.
"A New Wave of Diseases Threatens Southern Europe and the Middle East," Washington Post, October 23, 2015.
"Leishmaniasis: The Neglected Disease of War, Conflict, and Human Misery," Huffington Post, February 25, 2014.
"Science for the Poor: Making Vaccines to Combat Poverty," Huffington Post, February 11, 2014.
"America's 'New' Diseases of Poverty," Huffington Post, January 8, 2014.
"South Sudan's Forgotten People and Their Forgotten Diseases," Huffington Post, December 31, 2013.
"Could Yellow Fever Return to the United States?," PLOS, December 5, 2013.
"Next Steps in U.S.-Iran Diplomacy: Vaccines," Pacific Standard, November 6, 2013.
"Why India and Pakistan Must be United on Health Care," Global Post, October 20, 2013.
"NTDs in the Heart of Darkness: The Democratic Republic of Congo's Unknown Burden of Neglected Tropical Diseases," PLOS, July 25, 2013.
"The Disease Next Door," Foreign Policy, March 25, 2013.
"A New European Neglected Diseases Center for Greece?," PLOS, Feb. 28, 2013.
"A Reunification Rx for Korea," Los Angeles Times, January 24, 2013.
Books
Vaccines Did Not Cause Rachel's Autism: My Journey as a Vaccine Scientist, Pediatrician, and Autism Dad (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2018).