publications, contact information

Present Position

Distinguished Research Professor, George Washington University

Walter G. Ross Professor & Chair, Department of Microbiology, Immunology, & Tropical Medicine, George Washington University Medical Center

President, Sabin Vaccine Institute

Editor-in-Chief, PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases

Areas of Interest

Vaccine development for hookworm and other human helminth infections

Global policies and advocacy for the control and elimination of the human helminth infections and other negelcted tropical diseases

Description of research

My research interest is in the discovery, development and evaluation of appropriate technology, e.g., vaccines, diagnostics and drugs, for the neglected tropical diseases. The neglected tropical diseases are a group of conditions that occur almost exclusively in rural areas of poverty in the developing world. I currently serve as the Principal Scientist of the Human Hookworm Vaccine Initiative (HHVI), a public private partnership sponsored by the Sabin Vaccine Institute with major funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The four-fold mission of the HHVI is:

  • Research & Development : To develop a safe, efficacious, and low-cost vaccine in order to reduce the burden of disease caused by human hookworm infection
  • Dissemination : To ensure that the Human Hookworm Vaccine is made available to impoverished people living in Africa , Asia , and the Americas
  • Innovation : To conduct basic and applied research that will facilitate the development of new tools for hookworm control
  • Advocacy : To make the scientific and lay communities aware of the importance of human hookworm infection and related neglected diseases as public health threats

In addition to my research interests, I have an educational and advocacy interest to promote training in appropriate technology for research institutes and schools in developing countries and curricula of U.S. medical and public health schools.

Selected Publications

Original Articles

Hotez PJ, Molyneux DH, Fenwick A, Kumaresan J, Ehrlich Sachs S, Sachs JD, Savioli L. Control of neglected tropical diseases. NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE 2007; 357: 1018-27.

Asojo OA, Homma K, Sedlacek M, Ngamelue M, Goud GN, Zhan B, Deumic V, Asojo O, Hotez PJ. X-ray structures of NaGST-1 and NaGST-2 two glutathione S-transferase from the human hookworm Necator americanus. BMC STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY 2007; 7:42.

Hotez PJ, Brindley P, Bethony J, King CH, Pearce E, Jacobson J. Helminth infections: the great neglected tropical diseases. JOURNAL OF CLINICAL INVESTIGATION 2008; 118: 1311-21.

Bethony JM, Simon G, Diemert DJ, Parenti D, Desrosiers A, Schuck S, Fujiwara R, Santiago H, Hotez PJ. Randomized placebo-controlled, double-blind trial of the Na-ASP-2 Hookworm Vaccine in unexposed adults. VACCINE 2008 26: 2408-17.

Hotez PJ. Neglected infections of poverty in the United States of America. PLoS NEGLECTED TROPICAL DISEASES 2008; 2: e256.

Hotez PJ, Bottazzi ME, Franco-Paredes C, Ault SK, Roses Periago M. The neglected tropical diseases of Latin America and the Caribbean: review of estimated disease burden and distribution and a roadmap for control and elimination. PLoS NEGLECTED TROPICAL DISEASES 2008; 2: e300.

Hotez PJ, Thompson TG. Waging peace through neglected tropical disease control: a U.S. foreign policy for the bottom billion. PLoS NEGLECTED TROPICAL DISEASES 2009; 3: e346.

Hotez PJ, Fenwick A, Savioli L, Molyneux DH. Rescuing the bottom billion through neglected tropical disease control. LANCET 2009; in press.

Links

Antipoverty Vaccines - New York Academy of Sciences

Contact information

Tel. 202-994-3532
Fax. 202-994-2913
E-mail mtmpjh@gwumc.edu or photez@gwu.edu