Peter Jay Hotez (born May 5, 1958) is a scientist, pediatrician, and advocate in the fields of global health, vaccinology, and neglected tropical disease control. He serves as founding dean of the Baylor College of Medicine National School of Tropical Medicine in the department of pediatrics and holds the Texas Children's Hospital Endowed Chair in Tropical Pediatrics.[1] Hotez leads Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development. He is also University Professor at Baylor University and is the Fellow in Disease and Poverty at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University.[2][3]
Contents
Intro
Early Life and Education
Research and Career
- Parasite research
- Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs)
- National School of Tropical Medicine
- Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development
- US science envoy
- Public figure--Ebola and Zika, vaccine hesitancy
Awards and memberships
Publications and media
Personal life
External links
References
== Early life and education ==
Hotez was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and grew up in West Hartford. He received a BA in Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry magna cum laude (Phi Beta Kappa) from Yale University in 1980, a PhD from Rockefeller University in 1986, and his MD (Doctorate in Medicine) from Weill Cornell Medical College in 1987. He obtained pediatric residency training at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Professor Hotez is a diplomate certified in pediatrics.[4]
== Research And Career ==
=== Early Research===
Hotez was awarded postdoctoral positions molecular parasitology and pediatric infectious diseases at Yale University School of Medicine, and subsequently became an assistant professor there in 1992 and in 1995 was named an associate professor. His early research focused on the pathogenesis and molecular mechanisms of human hookworm infection, and became interested in the possibility of developing a vaccine to protect against hookworm. Together with Maj Gen (ret) Philip K. Russell MD, Hotez founded the Human Hookworm Vaccine Initiative (HHVI) in 1999,and in 2000 he was named Professor and Chair of the Department of Microbiology, and Tropical Medicine at the George Washington University, where he would serve until 2011 (renamed in 2005 as the Department of Microbiology, Immunology, and Tropical Medicine).
=== Neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) ===
Following the World Health Organization’s Millenium Development Goals in 2000, Hotez, along with Alan Fenwick and David Molyneux, led a global effort to rebrand what WHO in 2000 termed “other diseases” (Goal 6: to combat HIV, AIDS, malaria, “and other diseases”) as the neglected tropical diseases, or NTDs, and to promote therapeutic/preventive chemotherapy through a combination of drugs called the rapid-impact package. [5][6]
Hotez has advocated 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. [7]
During this time Hotez also led the Sabin Vaccine Institute in Washington DC, and also led efforts to establish PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, the first online open access medical journal focused exclusively on neglected tropical diseases.[8]
National School of Tropical Medicine/Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development
editIn 2011 Hotez left Washington DC for Houston, where he was named founding dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, as well as principal investigator of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development (CVD).[9] In addition to continued work on vaccines against hookworm and schistosomiasis, the CVD has expanded its portfolio to develop vaccines against a variety of other NTDs, including Chagas disease and leishmaniasis, as well as coronavirus infections.[10] [11] Currently two vaccines are in clinical trials for hookworm infection and schistosomiasis, respectively. [12] [13]
=== US science envoy ===
Hotez has also highlighted how vaccines can be used to promote international relationships in a process of what he terms “vaccine diplomacy.” In December 2014 Hotez was named U.S. Science Envoy by the White House and State Department. In this role he served two years focusing on vaccine science diplomacy and joint vaccine development with countries in the Middle East and North Africa. [14]
=== Public Figure on Ebola, Zika and other emerging diseases; blue marble health, combating vaccine hesitancy ===
In 2016, Prof. Hotez emerged as a major national thought leader on the Zika epidemic in the Western Hemisphere and globally, as well as the Ebola cases in Dallas, Texas a year earlier. He served on two Texas Governor’s task forces in order to address these diseases. He has also led US efforts around neglected diseases among impoverished populations in the southern US, estimating that 12 million Americans currently live with NTDs such as Chagas disease and toxocariasis.
In addition, as both a vaccine scientist and autism father he has led national efforts to defend vaccines as an ardent champion of vaccines going up against a growing national antivaccine movement. [15]
Awards and memberships
editHotez has been awarded: • 2017 - The Distinguished Achievement Award from B'Nai B'rith International for a lifetime of accomplishments in science and public health.[16] • 2011 - The Abraham Horwitz Award from the Pan American Health and Education Foundation and Pan American Health Organization for excellence in leadership in Inter-American public health guidelines[17] • 2003 - The Bailey K. Ashford Medal from the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene for distinguished work in tropical medicine.[18]
In 2008, he was elected to membership in the National Academy of Medicine.[12] He is a former ambassador of the Paul G. Rogers Society for Global Health Research and US Science Envoy for the White House and State Department in the Obama Administration, a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics (FAAP), a Fellow of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (FASTMH), a former member of the World Health Organization Scientific and Technical Advisory Committee for WHO TDR (Special Programme on Tropical Diseases Research),[13] and was a founding member of the WHO Scientific and Technical Advisory Group (STAG) for the new WHO NTD Department. Previously , Hotez served as a member of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Council of Councils.[14] In 2017 Hotez was recognized by Fortune Magazine as one of 34 leaders changing healthcare globally, and in that same year it was announced by Research America that Hotez will receive their 2018 award for “sustained leadership” for his work on NTDs and vaccine development.
== Publications ==
Hotez has served as editor or co-editor for several important textbooks including Feigin & Cherry’s Pediatric Tropical Diseases and Manson’s Tropical Diseases. He has also published two single author books titled Forgotten People, Forgotten Diseases, published by ASM Press. and Blue Marble Health: An Innovative Plan to Fight Diseases of the Poor Amid Wealth, published by Johns Hopkins University Press. He is the author of more than 400 scientific papers indexed on the PubMed National of Library of Science Database.
== Personal life ==
Hotez lives in Houston, Texas. He married his wife Ann in 1987. They have two sons and two daughters. Hotez has written and talked about the family’s struggles with their daughter Rachel’s autism.
- ^ "Expert named to lead new tropical disease research center - Houston Chronicle". Chron.com. 2011-06-08. Retrieved 2015-05-02.
- ^ Baylor University. Peter Jay Hotez, M.D., Ph.D. https://www.baylor.edu/Biology/index.php?id=869008
- ^ Falk, J. Rice University News & Media. Hotez named new Baker Institute fellow in disease and poverty. http://news.rice.edu/2012/09/21/hotez-named-new-baker-institute-fellow-in-disease-and-poverty/ (press release)
- ^ The American Board of Pediatrics. Verification of Certification. https://www.abp.org/content/verification-certification
- ^ Marchal B et al. Neglected tropical disease (NTD) control in health systems: The interface between programmes and general health services. Acta Tropica 120 Supplement 1: S177-S185
- ^ Utzinger J, de Savigny D. Control of Neglected Tropical Diseases: Integrated Chemotherapy and Beyond. PLOS Medicine 3(5):e112.
- ^ Lee BY. Look What Happens When You Pay Attention To Neglected Tropical Diseases. Pharma & Healthcare April 24, 2017. https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2017/04/24/look-what-happens-when-you-pay-attention-to-neglected-tropical-diseases/#6951cccd221a
- ^ Lee BY. Look What Happens When You Pay Attention To Neglected Tropical Diseases. Pharma & Healthcare April 24, 2017. https://www.forbes.com/sites/brucelee/2017/04/24/look-what-happens-when-you-pay-attention-to-neglected-tropical-diseases/#6951cccd221a
- ^ Rufca S. Houston Medical Center rising as a global health hub: New star doc & programs gain UN notice. Culture Map Houston, August 30, 2011. http://houston.culturemap.com/news/city-life/08-30-11-houston-medical-center-rising-as-a-global-health-hub-new-superstar-doc-and-programs-gain-united-nations-notice/#slide=0
- ^ Baylor College of Medicine https://www.bcm.edu/departments/pediatrics/sections-divisions-centers/tropical-medicine/research/vaccine-development
- ^ Pathak D. DoD funds cutaneous leishmaniasis vaccine development. Press Release, September 27, 2017. https://www.bcm.edu/news/school-of-tropical-medicine/cutaneous-leishmaniasis-vaccine-development
- ^ Clinical Trials.gov. Study of Co-administered Na-APR-1 (M74) and Na-GST-1 in Gabonese Children. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02839161
- ^ Clinical Trials.gov 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. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02337855
- ^ citation: U.S. Department of State. Diplomacy in Action. U.S. Science Envoy Program. Archived content: https://2009-2017.state.gov/e/oes/stc/scienceenvoy/index.htm
- ^ University of Minnesota. Center for Infectios Disease Research and Policy. Study: Small drop in vaccine uptake can trigger measles outbreak. http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-perspective/2017/07/study-small-drop-vaccine-uptake-can-trigger-measles-outbreak. July 24, 2017.
- ^ BCM Family. B’nai B’rith recognizes Dr. Peter Hotez for distinguished career. https://bcmfamily.bcm.edu/2017/04/05/bnai-brith-international-recognizes-dr-peter-hotez-for-distinguished-career/
- ^ PAHO Foundation. http://www.pahofoundation.org/initiatives/awards/horwitz/past-winners
- ^ "Bailey K. Ashford Medal". American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. http://www.astmh.org/awards-fellowships-medals/awards-and-honors/bailey-k-ashford-medal. Retrieved 2017-11-17.