Peter Hotez

Peter Hotez
Hotez in 2019
Peter Hotez
Born	Peter Jay Hotez 5 5, 1958
Birthplace	Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Scientist, pediatrician, author, public health advocate
Title	Founding Dean, National School of Tropical Medicine; Director, Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development
Employer	Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children's Hospital
Known for	Neglected tropical disease research, vaccine development, science advocacy
Education	Yale University (PhD), Weill Cornell Medicine (MD)
Awards	Bailey K. Ashford Medal, B'nai B'rith Distinguished Achievement Award, H.B. Ward Medal
Website	[peterhotez.org Official site]

Peter Jay Hotez (born May 5, 1958) is an American scientist, pediatrician, and author whose career has centered on the development of vaccines for neglected tropical diseases and the broader promotion of global public health. He serves as the founding dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, where he holds the positions of Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology & Microbiology, Director of the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, and Endowed Chair in Tropical Pediatrics. He also serves as University Professor of Biology at Baylor University. A former president of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, Hotez has been a central figure in efforts to develop low-cost vaccines for diseases that disproportionately affect populations living in poverty. He is a founding editor-in-chief of PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases and co-director of Parasites Without Borders, a global nonprofit organization focused on parasitic diseases in subtropical environments. In recent years, Hotez has become one of the most prominent public voices in the United States opposing anti-vaccine activism and what he describes as organized movements against science, authoring multiple books and delivering frequent public commentary on the subject.

Early Life

Peter Jay Hotez was born on May 5, 1958, in Hartford, Connecticut. Details regarding his parents and upbringing in Connecticut are limited in available sources, though his later academic trajectory indicates an early interest in the biological sciences. Hotez grew up during a period of significant expansion in American biomedical research and public health infrastructure, and he would go on to pursue advanced education in both science and medicine.

Hotez has spoken publicly about his personal connection to issues of disability and neurodevelopment. He is the father of a daughter with autism, an experience that has informed his public engagement on the topic of vaccines and autism. He has used his personal and professional expertise to counter claims linking vaccines to autism spectrum disorder, drawing on both peer-reviewed research and his own family's experience.

Education

Hotez pursued a dual path of scientific and medical training. He earned his PhD from Yale University and his MD from Cornell University Medical College (now Weill Cornell Medicine). His doctoral research focused on molecular parasitology, a field that would define the arc of his career. The combined MD-PhD training equipped Hotez with both clinical expertise in pediatrics and a deep grounding in laboratory science, positioning him to work at the intersection of bench research and global health policy.

Prior to joining Baylor College of Medicine, Hotez held faculty positions at other institutions, including George Washington University, where he established early programs in tropical medicine and vaccine development.

Career

Neglected Tropical Diseases and Vaccine Development

Hotez's scientific career has been defined by his focus on neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) — a group of infectious diseases that affect more than one billion people globally, predominantly in low-income countries and impoverished communities. These diseases, which include hookworm disease, schistosomiasis, Chagas disease, and leishmaniasis, have historically received minimal funding for research and drug or vaccine development relative to their disease burden. Hotez has been instrumental in drawing attention to NTDs as a major public health priority and in developing low-cost vaccines to combat them.

At the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, which Hotez directs, research teams have worked on developing vaccines for several NTDs. Among the most notable projects is the development of a recombinant vaccine for hookworm infection, which entered clinical trials. Another significant effort has been the development of a vaccine candidate for schistosomiasis, which also advanced to clinical testing. These vaccine programs are notable not only for their scientific innovation but also for their emphasis on producing vaccines at low cost, making them accessible to the populations most affected by these diseases.

Hotez has articulated a concept he describes as "blue marble health," which emphasizes that neglected tropical diseases are not confined to developing countries but also affect impoverished populations within wealthy nations, including the United States. He has pointed to the persistence of NTDs in the Gulf Coast region of the United States as evidence that poverty-related diseases exist even within high-income countries.

A key publication co-authored by Hotez outlined the global burden of NTDs and the potential for integrated control strategies, contributing to a broader movement within global health to address these diseases through mass drug administration, vaccine development, and improved sanitation.

National School of Tropical Medicine

In 2011, Hotez was appointed the founding dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. The establishment of the school represented a significant institutional investment in tropical medicine research and education within the United States, and Hotez played a central role in its creation and development. The school's mission encompasses training the next generation of tropical medicine specialists, conducting research on NTDs, and developing new tools — including vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics — for diseases of poverty.

Under Hotez's leadership, the National School of Tropical Medicine has become a hub for research on diseases that disproportionately affect the world's poorest populations. The school's affiliation with both Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children's Hospital has provided a platform for translating laboratory research into clinical applications.

PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases

Hotez served as the founding editor-in-chief of PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, an open-access journal launched to provide a dedicated venue for publishing research on diseases that had been historically underrepresented in the scientific literature. The creation of the journal was part of a broader strategy to elevate the profile of NTD research within the global scientific community and to ensure that findings were freely accessible to researchers and public health practitioners worldwide, particularly those in resource-limited settings.

American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene

Hotez served as president of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene (ASTMH), one of the leading professional organizations in the field of tropical medicine and global health. His tenure as president reflected his standing within the tropical medicine community and provided a platform for advancing his agenda on NTD control and vaccine development.

Parasites Without Borders

Hotez co-directs Parasites Without Borders, a global nonprofit organization that focuses on addressing the burden of parasitic diseases in subtropical environments. The organization supports research, advocacy, and public education efforts aimed at reducing the impact of parasitic infections on vulnerable populations.

Science Advocacy and Opposition to Anti-Vaccine Movements

In addition to his laboratory research and institutional leadership, Hotez has become one of the most prominent public voices in the United States advocating for the value of science and opposing what he characterizes as organized anti-science and anti-vaccine movements. This dimension of his career has grown substantially since the COVID-19 pandemic and has continued to expand in subsequent years.

Hotez has been a frequent commentator in national and international media on topics related to vaccines, public health misinformation, and the politicization of science. He has argued that anti-vaccine activism in the United States has become increasingly organized and politically influential, posing direct threats to public health.

In 2023, a notable public exchange occurred when podcast host Joe Rogan invited Hotez to debate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a prominent vaccine skeptic, on Rogan's podcast. Hotez declined the debate format but the episode generated significant public attention and became emblematic of broader tensions between the scientific community and anti-vaccine advocacy.

Hotez has authored multiple books on the subject of science and society, including a 2025 book titled Science Under Siege, which examines how disinformation threatens global health and scientific progress. He has discussed the themes of the book in numerous public appearances, including a conversation with climate scientist Michael Mann at the Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University, where both scientists discussed the interconnected challenges of pandemics, climate change, and organized opposition to scientific consensus.

In a 2025 appearance on the Yale Insights podcast Health Veritas, Hotez discussed what he described as an "anti-science machine," detailing the networks and funding structures that he argues sustain organized opposition to vaccines and other public health measures.

In late 2025, Hotez reflected publicly on what he described as a year of significant changes in United States health policy, including shifts in childhood vaccine recommendations and federal public health funding. He discussed these developments in an interview with Texas Public Radio, where he assessed the impact of policy changes on public health infrastructure.

NIH Advisory Role

Hotez was named a member of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Council of Councils, an advisory body that provides guidance to the NIH Director on matters related to the policies and activities of the NIH Division of Program Coordination, Planning, and Strategic Initiatives. This appointment reflected his expertise in global health and vaccine science and placed him in a position to influence federal research priorities.

Personal Life

Hotez is based in Houston, Texas, where he has lived and worked since joining Baylor College of Medicine. In a 2025 profile in the Houston Chronicle, he described aspects of his daily life in Houston, including his enjoyment of the city's Vietnamese food, walks in the Montrose neighborhood, and shopping for blues records at Cactus Music.

Hotez has spoken publicly about his experience as the father of a daughter with autism spectrum disorder. He has used this personal experience to counter unfounded claims linking vaccines to autism, emphasizing both the scientific evidence disproving such a connection and the human dimension of the issue from the perspective of a parent and a scientist.

Recognition

Hotez has received numerous awards and honors over the course of his career, reflecting both his scientific contributions and his public engagement.

He was awarded the Bailey K. Ashford Medal by the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, one of the society's most prestigious honors, recognizing distinguished work in tropical medicine.

He received the H.B. Ward Medal from the American Society of Parasitologists, awarded for contributions to the field of parasitology.

Hotez was a recipient of the B'nai B'rith Distinguished Achievement Award, presented to him for his leadership in tropical medicine and global health.

He was elected a member of the National Academy of Medicine (formerly the Institute of Medicine), one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine in the United States.

Hotez was also elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, recognizing his contributions across the sciences and public life.

In 2025, Hotez was honored by the Yale School of Public Health for his contributions to vaccine development and science advocacy.

Legacy

Peter Hotez's career spans several decades of work at the intersection of laboratory science, clinical medicine, global health policy, and public advocacy. His contributions to the field of neglected tropical diseases have helped reshape how the global health community understands and addresses diseases of poverty. Through his leadership of the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development and the National School of Tropical Medicine, he has built institutional infrastructure dedicated to developing affordable health tools for populations that are often overlooked by commercial pharmaceutical research.

His role as a founding editor-in-chief of PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases contributed to the establishment of a dedicated academic platform for NTD research, helping to professionalize and legitimize a field that had long struggled for recognition and funding within the broader biomedical research establishment.

In the 2020s, Hotez's public profile expanded significantly as he became a frequent and outspoken commentator on the dangers of anti-vaccine activism and health misinformation. His willingness to engage directly with public debates about vaccines and science policy, including through media appearances, books, and social media, has made him a polarizing but influential figure in American public health discourse.

His concept of "blue marble health" — which highlights the presence of neglected tropical diseases within wealthy nations, not just in the developing world — has offered a framework for understanding health inequities that transcends traditional geographic boundaries. This perspective has influenced how public health researchers and policymakers think about the distribution of disease burden and the allocation of research resources.

Through his combination of scientific research, institution-building, and public communication, Hotez has occupied a distinctive position in American science and medicine, serving as both a working researcher and a public intellectual engaged in debates about the role of science in democratic societies.