Dr. Hotez is an internationally recognized physician-scientist in neglected tropical diseases and vaccine development. As co-director of the Texas Children’s Center for Vaccine Development, he leads a team and product development partnership for developing new vaccines for hookworm infection, schistosomiasis, leishmaniasis, Chagas disease and SARS/MERS/SARS-2 coronavirus, diseases affecting hundreds of millions of children and adults worldwide, while championing access to vaccines globally and in the U.S.
In December 2021, Hotez led efforts at the Texas Children’s Center for Vaccine Development to develop a low-cost recombinant protein COVID vaccine for global health, resulting in emergency use authorization in India. In 2022 Hotez and his colleague Dr. Maria Elena Bottazzi were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for “their work to develop and distribute a low-cost COVID-19 vaccine to people of the world without patent limitation.”
In 2014-16, he served in the Obama Administration as U.S. Envoy, focusing on vaccine diplomacy initiatives between the U.S. government and countries in the Middle East and North Africa. In 2018, he was appointed by the U.S. State Department to serve on the Board of Governors for the U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation, and he is frequently called on frequently to testify before U.S. Congress. He has served on infectious disease task forces for two consecutive Texas governors. For these efforts in 2017 he was named by FORTUNE Magazine as one of the 34 most influential people in healthcare, while in 2018 he received the Sustained Leadership Award from Research!America.
Most recently as both a vaccine scientist and autism parent, he has led national efforts to defend vaccines and to serve as an ardent champion of vaccines going up against a growing national “antivax” threat. In 2019, he received the Award for Leadership in Advocacy for Vaccines from the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. In 2021 he was recognized by scientific leadership awards from the Association of American Medical Colleges and the American Medical Association, in addition to being recognized by the Anti-Defamation League with its annual Popkin Award for combating antisemitism.