Dr. Peter Hotez appointed to U.S. - Israel Binational Science Foundation Board of Governors

HOUSTON – (Feb. 8, 2018) – Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital Endowed Chair in Tropical Pediatrics, has been appointed as a representative to the U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation Board of Governors. The announcement was made today by the U.S. Department of State.

“I’m excited to be re-engaged in science diplomacy in the Middle East,” Hotez said. “From my time as U.S. Science Envoy and now with the U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation, I have found that our nation has extraordinary capacity to reach out and promote science and technology across the globe.”

The Foundation, established in 1972, promotes scientific cooperation between the United States and Israel by supporting collaborative research projects in a wide area of basic and applied scientific fields for peaceful and non-profit purposes and also supports workshops and travel grants for young scientists. The Foundation awards 100 to 120 grants per year that can have a maximum value of $230,000 over two to four years. The grants are made on a competitive, peer-reviewed basis and are juried by leading scientists from the United States, Israel and around the world. Since its inception, the Foundation has awarded some $600 million to more than 4,500 research projects that have resulted in significant advances in many scientific fields.

Hotez is a world renowned expert in neglected tropical diseases, the most common diseases affecting the poor. Hotez previously served as U.S. Science Envoy for the U.S. Department of State, focusing his work on Saudi Arabia and Morocco.

In addition to Hotez, Cathleen Campbell, American Association for the Advancement of Science Visiting Scholar and former president of CDRF Global, and Joshua Gordon, director of the National Institutes of Mental Health, part of the National Institutes of Health, also were appointed to the Board. They join Rebecca Keiser, director of the Office of International Science and Engineering at the National Science Foundation, and Andrew Hebbeler, deputy director of the Office of Science and Technology in the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, as well as their Israeli counterparts, on the Board of Governors.