Dr. Peter Hotez Awarded Villanova University’s Mendel Medal

HOUSTON, TX – (August 29, 2024) – Texas Children’s Hospital is pleased to announce that pediatrician-scientist, 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, is this year’s recipient of Villanova University’s Mendel Medal, established in 1928 to recognize the scientific accomplishments and religious conviction of outstanding scientists.

"I am deeply honored to receive this recognition from Villanova University, especially one that commemorates Gregor Mendel, a figure who has profoundly inspired my scientific journey and efforts in vaccine development. It is a privilege to join the distinguished group awarded the Mendel Medal, dedicated to scientific discovery and public education," said Dr. Hotez. 

The Villanova University Mendel Medal is named after Gregor Mendel, the Augustinian friar renowned for his pioneering discoveries in the laws of heredity, establishing the foundation for modern genetics. For almost 100 years the Mendal Medal has recognized scientists who have significantly advanced the cause of science and whose lives and work demonstrate that there is no intrinsic conflict between science and religion. Over the years, recipients have included Nobel Laureates, prominent medical researchers, and trailblazers in various scientific fields.  They include Drs. Francis Collins, Victor McKusick, Paul Farmer, Janet Rowley, Maxine Singer, Georges Henri Joseph Édouard Lemaître, and Rev. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. 

Earlier this year, Dr. Hotez was awarded the 2024 John P. McGovern Science and Society Award from Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society, for his efforts in pioneering vaccines for overlooked global health challenges. He was also named to the inaugural 2024 TIME100 Health, an annual list of 100 individuals who most influenced global health through their impact, innovation and achievements. 

Dr. Hotez previously received the AAAS American Association for the Advancement of Science’s 2023 Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award, the Infectious Diseases Society of America’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), and the AMA’s 2022 Scientific Achievement Award. In 2022, Dr. Hotez received 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 that has now been locally manufactured in India and Indonesia and administered to over a hundred million people.

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. 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. 

Media Contacts

Dancie Perugini Ware Public Relations / Ashley Pearce, ashley@dpwpr.com / Ginny Montalbano, ginny@dpwpr.com 

Texas Children’s Hospital Media Contact:
Kelley Carville, Vice President, Media Relations | Texas Children’s Hospital
832.824.3921 (o) | kfcarvil@texaschildrens.org

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.

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.