In this week’s installment of Five Questions, we hear from two leading experts on the effects of antisicence and what we can do in response. Peter Hotez, M.D., Ph.D., D.Sc. (honorary), Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and Fellow of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, is Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine, where he is also co-director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine. Dr. Hotez is a vaccine scientist, biochemist, and pediatrician who has led or co-led the development of vaccines for parasitic infections-hookworm, schistosomiasis, Chagas disease (currently in clinical trials), and several coronavirus vaccines, including two low-cost COVID vaccines for global health so far administered to 100 million children and adults in India and Indonesia.
Dr. Michael E. Mann is Presidential Distinguished Professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Science at the University of Pennsylvania, with a secondary appointment in the Annenberg School for Communication. He also serves as Vice Provost for Climate Science, Policy, and Action and Director of the Penn Center for Science, Sustainability, and the Media (PCSSM).
Together, they have written Science Under Siege. It’s a book about the forces behind the antiscience movement and a road map for fighting back.
Tonight, we have the opportunity to hear from them about their views on antiscience and how their two disciplines, vaccinations and climate change, have become subject to the disinformation that is the hallmark of this era in American history. I’m honored that they’ve take the time to share their views with us tonight.
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