Most people know Dr. Peter Hotez from his television appearances during COVID, his defense of vaccination, and the relentless attacks directed at him on social media. I know Peter as a friend. And I want to tell you about another part of his life that rarely enters those arguments. For more than four decades, Peter has devoted much of his scientific career to diseases that afflict some of the poorest people on Earth. Diseases that cause enormous suffering but attract relatively little commercial investment because the people who need treatment often cannot afford to pay for it. Hookworm. Schistosomiasis. Chagas disease. Leishmaniasis. These are hardly household names. Their victims rarely make headlines, and the scientists working on them seldom become celebrities. Peter chose this field long before COVID, long before the cable news appearances, and long before strangers began calling him a pharmaceutical industry shill. His career deserves a closer look. Because the work tells a story that is almost entirely absent from the accusations made against him.

Russian authorities are responding to an incident in which a suspected dangerous infection was released as a result of a laboratory accident in Siberia and a researcher died. cnn.it/3Ubwb4F