Fighting Neglected Diseases
Dr. Peter Hotez helps bring health advances to those who most need them.
From his office, Dr. Peter Hotez can see the World Bank, an office of the World Health Organization and the State Department Office of the U.S. Global AIDS coordinator. The view is a reminder that The George Washington University is the perfect place for his students’ work: eradicating diseases affecting the poorest people on the planet.
“GW is a one-stop shop on neglected diseases, with research, product development, clinical testing and policy,” says Dr. Hotez, professor and chair of the Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Tropical Medicine at GW Medical Center.
Dr. Hotez and his team of scientists and students focus on diseases that are disfiguring and life threatening yet easily treatable. They design innovative large-scale strategies to control parasitic and bacterial infections—like schistosomiasis and hookworm—in sub-Sahara Africa, Southeast Asia and Central and South America.
Dr. Hotez also chairs the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Disease Control. Through the network, packages of drugs that can be administered for as little as 50 cents per person per year have made their way to more than 34 million people in Africa. A hookworm vaccine developed through the Global Network is being tested in Brazil.
For the GW professor, who is a member of the prestigious Institute of Medicine of the National Academies, it’s about much more than eradicating illness.
“Our work is important because it’s the best opportunity for lifting poor people in developing countries out of poverty,” he says. “These diseases not only affect health but also education and economic development.”
The GW Experience
Students
All in the Family
Greg and Heather Hachenburg talk about their undergraduate experience at GW, one of many sibling pairs to share in the Colonials legacy.
Creating Next Generation Leaders
GW program helps female students connect with leading women across a variety of fields and develop their roles as future women in leadership.
Where the City is a Classroom
Freshman volunteers experience life beyond Foggy Bottom...
Faculty
Fighting Neglected Diseases
GW professor works to eradicate diseases that affect the health, education and economic development of the world's poorest people.
Building the Super Computer
Pioneering lab puts GW at the forefront of high-speed computing and offers GW students unprecedented access to science and skills of the future.
Blast From the Past
Students map an ancient—and dramatic—eruption as part of a geological research program in the nearby Blue Ridge Mountains.
Alumni
Giving Back to the District of Columbia
D.C. public health director calls GW education the foundation of his career.
GW Opens Doors
A chance encounter with a GW alumna helped give one GW undergraduate, an aspiring broadcast journalist from Texas, his big break.
The Legend Lives On
The $2 million bequest commitment caps a lifetime of philanthropy and service to GW, establishing the Elyse B. and Donald R. Lehman Endowed Professorship in Theoretical Physics.