Dr. Maria Elena Bottazzi and Dr. Flor Muñoz Receive the Houston Mayor’s 2022 Hispanic Heritage Award in Healthcare

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Houston, TX – October 11, 2022 – Two innovative Houstonians with Texas Children’s Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine received the Mayor’s 2022 Hispanic Heritage Award in healthcare today. Dr. Maria Elena Bottazzi, co-director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development and professor and associate dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, and Dr. Flor Muñoz, director of transplant infectious diseases at Texas Children's Hospital and an associate professor of pediatrics – infectious diseases at Baylor College of Medicine, officially received the award jointly during a proclamation ceremony today at City Hall.

Mayor Sylvester Turner and the Mayor’s Hispanic Advisory Board provides this and other awards to honor exceptional Houstonians during Hispanic Heritage Month, seeking to recognize exemplary Hispanics who have made outstanding contributions toward improving the quality of life within the Houston Hispanic community.

Dr. Bottazzi was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize this year alongside her colleague of over 20 years, Dr. Peter Hotez, for significant contributions to global vaccine equality. They were also named two of Fast Company’s 2022 Most Creative People in Business. With their team, they researched and developed a patent-free, low-cost recombinant protein COVID-19 vaccine that has received emergency use authorization in several parts of the world. Dr. Bottazzi has led numerous community events to educate Latinos about COVID-19 vaccine development and served on local and national task forces. Dr. Bottazzi was recently named one of Forbes and Bloomberg’s most influential people in Central and Latin America, respectively, and was a panelist at the Clinton Global Initiative annual meeting where she discussed global vaccine equality.

I am honored and humbled to receive, jointly with Dr. Muñoz, this award and celebrate our Central American heritage. Together we are using innovative strategies in the vaccine sciences with the goal to reach millions of children globally and close the health inequity gaps making this world more prosperous,” said Dr. Bottazzi.

Dr. Muñoz and her team led treatment and COVID-19 vaccine trials in Houston at Texas Children’s Hospital for healthy children under the age of 12 and immunocompromised children. She conducted a NIH sponsored study on COVID-19 vaccines in pregnancy to evaluate their protection in mothers and infants. Dr. Muñoz has been a steadfast advocate for pediatric patients and pregnant women at Texas Children’s Hospital, ensuring equal access to life-saving therapeutic treatments. During the pandemic, Dr. Muñoz continually participated in various national and local events and activities to educate the Houston community about the importance of getting vaccinated, methods to stay safe and recruitment for critical vaccine trials. Additionally, Dr. Muñoz served in various national and international committees and local task forces in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. She is co-chair of the COVAX-CEPI Maternal Immunization Group and of the Global Vaccine Development Network maternal vaccine safety working group, and chair of the Institutional Review Board at Baylor College of Medicine.

“It is a true honor to receive the Mayor's Hispanic Heritage Award for Healthcare along with Dr. Bottazzi. I am humbled to share this recognition with all those working in healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic and proud of our Hispanic community in Houston. I am grateful for Texas Children's Hospital and Baylor College of Medicine's support for our efforts in ensuring and improving the health of children, their mothers, and their families here at home and worldwide,” said Dr. Muñoz.