min. read
HOUSTON, TX – (July 1, 2024) – Texas Children’s Hospital is pleased to announce that today, Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society, named Dr. Peter Hotez, co-director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, 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, as the recipient of the 2024 John P. McGovern Science and Society Award for his pioneering vaccine research and tireless advocacy and communication in the interests of scientific research.
"It's an incredible honor to receive recognition from Sigma Xi, a revered institution that has played a pivotal role in advancing American science endeavors for generations. The society's core mission resonates deeply with my work, especially in pioneering vaccines for overlooked global health challenges,” said Dr. Hotez.
Since 1984, Sigma Xi has honored an outstanding scientist or engineer with the John P. McGovern Science and Society Award annually for contributions at the intersection of science and society that transcend their career as a researcher. John P. McGovern, a highly influential immunologist and researcher, founded the renowned McGovern Allergy Clinic in Houston, the John P. McGovern Foundation and co-founded the American Osler Society, leaving a profound legacy of philanthropy and scholarship in public health and medicine.
Dr. Hotez is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the author of several books. Earlier this year, he was named to the inaugural 2024 TIME100 Health, an annual list of 100 individuals who most influenced global health through their impact, innovation and achievements.
As a result of Dr. Hotez’s persistent efforts to combat neglected tropical diseases, develop vital vaccine technology, and his advocacy for science, he has received numerous prestigious awards. He recently received the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s 2023 Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award, the IDSA’s 2023 Anthony Fauci Courage in Leadership Award, the 2023 David and Beatrix Hamburg Award from the National Academy of Medicine (awarded to the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development), the AMA’s 2022 Scientific Achievement Award and a Nobel Peace Prize co-nomination recognizing the Texas Children’s Center for Vaccine Development and Baylor College of Medicine’s development of a low-cost, protein-based COVID-19 vaccine technology. This vaccine technology is now locally produced in India and Indonesia as Corbevax and Indovac respectively, with 100 million doses administered.
In addition to authoring 700 scientific papers, Dr. Hotez has written multiple books to promote the importance of neglected tropical diseases and counter rising antivaccine activism, including Forgotten People Forgotten Diseases (ASM-Wiley Press) and Blue Marble Health, Vaccines Did Not Cause Rachel’s Autism, Preventing the Next Pandemic, and The Deadly Rise of Anti-science (Johns Hopkins University Press). He was honored previously by the American Medical Writers Association.
Past McGovern Awardees include Paul R. Sanberg, Kathy Sullivan, Sylvia Earle, David Suzuki, Jack Gibbons, Phil Morrison, Bill Carey, Nobel Laureate Roald Hoffmann, and many others. Dr. Hotez will receive the award in November at the International Forum On Research Excellence in Washington, D.C, where he will also present the John P. McGovern Science and Society Lecture.
ABOUT TEXAS CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL
Texas Children’s, a nonprofit health care organization, is committed to creating a healthier future for children and women throughout the global community by leading in patient care, education and research. Consistently ranked as the best children’s hospital in Texas and among the top in the nation, Texas Children’s has garnered widespread recognition for its expertise and breakthroughs in pediatric and women’s health. The system includes the Texas Children’s Duncan NRI; the Feigin Tower for pediatric research; Texas Children’s Pavilion for Women, a comprehensive obstetrics/gynecology facility focusing on high-risk births; Texas Children’s Hospital West Campus, a community hospital in suburban West Houston; Texas Children’s Hospital The Woodlands, the first hospital devoted to children’s care for communities north of Houston and Texas Children’s Hospital North Austin, the new state-of-the-art facility providing world-class pediatric and maternal care to Austin families. The organization also created Texas Children’s Health Plan, the nation’s first HMO focused on children; Texas Children’s Pediatrics, the largest pediatric primary care network in the country; Texas Children’s Urgent Care clinics that specialize in after-hours care tailored specifically for children; and a global health program that is channeling care to children and women all over the world. Texas Children’s Hospital is affiliated with Baylor College of Medicine. For more information, visit www.texaschildrens.org.
ABOUT TEXAS CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL CENTER FOR VACCINE DEVELOPMENT
Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development is one of the leading vaccine development centers in the world. Established in Washington DC as the Sabin Vaccine Institute Product Development Partnership (PDP) in the year 2000 and after relocating to the Texas Medical Center in 2011, it rebranded as Texas Children’s Center for Vaccine Development. For the past two decades it has acquired an international reputation as a non-profit PDP, advancing vaccines for poverty-related neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) and emerging infectious diseases of pandemic importance. In addition, it builds and strengthens capacity for vaccine development locally and with foreign nations and leads global efforts to guide and influence vaccine policy and advocacy through “vaccine diplomacy” as an international bridge for peace and vaccine development capacity.
Related Stories
71921
Press Release
article