My scientific life in translational medicine runs in two parallel, yet often converging paths. The first, is four-decade-long commitment to develop new vaccines for parasitic and neglected tropical diseases, as well as pandemic threats. This includes a vaccine for human hookworm infection that I began as an MD-PhD student in New York City in the 1980s, and a new low-cost COVID vaccine that reached almost 100 million people in low- and middle-income countries. Alongside this life in scientific research, is one in public engagement for vaccine and neglected disease diplomacy to ensure that people who live in extreme poverty can benefit from access to biomedical innovations. A troubling element has been the daunting task of countering rising antivaccine activism, which threatens to undermine our global vaccine ecosystem. Yet, this activity may turn out to become just as important for saving lives as developing new vaccines.
Real innovations in medicine and science are historic and singular; the stories behind each occurrence are precious. At Molecular Medicine we have established the Anthony Cerami Award in Translational Medicine to document and preserve these histories. The monographs recount the seminal events as told in the voice of the original investigators who provided the crucial early insight. These essays capture the essence of discovery, chronicling the birth of ideas that created new fields of research and launched trajectories that persisted and ultimately influenced how disease is prevented, diagnosed, and treated. In this volume, the Cerami Award Monograph is by Peter Hotez, MD, PhD, DSc (hon), FASTMH, FAAP, co-director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, the Texas Children’s Hospital Endowed Chair in Tropical Pediatrics, and professor and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. A distinguished vaccinologist, pediatrician, and global health advocate with remarkable achievements in the realm of molecular medicine, this is the story of Dr. Hotez’s scientific journey.
© 2024. The Author(s).