Hotez recognized with Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Award
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The Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) has awarded Dr. Peter Hotez, professor of pediatrics and molecular virology and microbiology and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, as a 2021 recipient of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation David E. Rogers Award.
This award honors individuals who have made significant contributions to public health and is named after David E. Rogers, M.D., who was influential in providing healthcare needs for the public.
“I’m deeply grateful to the AAMC, an organization we’ve worked closely with for decades. It’s a personal honor for me given our mutual commitment to medical and scientific education,” said Hotez, who also is the Texas Children’s Hospital Chair in Tropical Pediatrics and co-director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development.
Hotez is a renowned physician-scientist who is recognized for his research in neglected tropical diseases and vaccine development. His work helped to shape policies in global health, leading to the annual treatment of hundreds of millions of people with parasitic and related neglected tropical diseases.
He has pioneered the molecular science behind neglected tropical disease vaccines, while co-leading a team developing vaccines for diseases such as human hookworm, schistosomiasis, chagas disease and SARS. This now includes developing a low-cost version of a COVID-19 vaccine that is in clinical trials across India. Hotez also has led vaccine advocacy efforts to counter rising antivaccine and anti-science sentiments in the United States, while promoting vaccine diplomacy efforts globally.
Hotez is the author of more than 600 scientific papers and four books, most recently, “Preventing the Next Pandemic: Vaccine Diplomacy in a Time of Anti-Science (Johns Hopkins University Press). He is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has served as a U.S. Science Envoy for the State Department and White House under the Obama administration.
Learn more about Hotez and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation David E. Rogers Award here.
The AAMC’s annual awards recognize individuals and institutions making major contributions to medical education, research, clinical care and community engagement. This year’s recipients will be honored during the 2021 AAMC Awards Recognition Event on Oct. 27.
