THE FUTURE OF VACCINES & VACCINE ACCEPTANCE

OUR PANELISTS

MODERATOR JONATHAN "JONO" QUICK, MD, MPH

Adjunct Professor of Global Health at Duke Global Health Institute

Jonathan D. Quick, MD, MPH (“Jono”) is an internationally recognized global health leader and author of The End of Epidemics: The Looming Threat to Humanity and How to Stop It (2020 Australian, Italian, Korean, South Asia, U.K. and U.S. editions). His current research focuses on market-driven epidemics, from tobacco to opioids, ultra-processed foods, and social media. He is an adjunct Professor of Global Health at the Duke Global Health Institute (Durham, NC) and Affiliated Faculty in Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School (Boston, MA). He has held senior leadership positions at the World Health Organization, The Rockefeller Foundation, and Management Sciences for Health. His other publications include Managing Access to Medicines and Health Technologies (MDS-3), The Financial Times Guide to Executive Health, and more than 100 other books, chapters, and articles in leading medical journals. He has contributed to Trinity Forum Readings on the lives and faith of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Nelson Mandela, Albert Schweitzer and human rights pioneer Bartolomé Las Casas.  Dr. Quick has appeared on North American, European, and Asia media, including the BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, CNN, ABC News, MSNBC, and Bloomberg.

MARIA ELENA BOTAZZI, Ph.D

Co-Director, Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development

Baylor College of Medicine

Maria Elena Bottazzi is a distinguished scientist and a leading figure in the fields of vaccinology and neglected tropical diseases. With a career spanning over two decades, Dr. Bottazzi has made remarkable contributions to global health through her research, leadership, and advocacy efforts. She is Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology and Microbiology, currently serving as the Sr. Associate Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine and Division Chief of Pediatric Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine. She is also the Co-director of Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, where Dr. Bottazzi has been instrumental in advancing innovative approaches to combat diseases that disproportionately affect underserved populations worldwide. Her work focuses on developing vaccines and therapeutics for neglected tropical diseases such as hookworm, schistosomiasis, Chagas disease, and tick-borne diseases.

Dr. Bottazzi is widely recognized for her pivotal role in the co-development of a patent-free, open science vaccine technology against COVID-19 that led to the development of Corbevax in India and IndoVac in Indonesia, and with approximately 100 million doses delivered. Throughout her career, Dr. Bottazzi has been a vocal advocate for equitable access to healthcare and vaccines, particularly for marginalized communities in low- and middle-income countries. She has collaborated with international organizations, governments, and non-profits to promote initiatives aimed at addressing health disparities and improving global health outcomes.

Dr. Bottazzi is a member of the US National Academy of Medicine (NAM), a Leshner Leadership Institute Public Engagement Fellow in Infectious Diseases of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and an Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) Fellow. She has served on several NAM consensus committees including “Stronger Food & Drug Regulatory Systems Abroad” & "Vaccine R&D for Pandemic Preparedness". She also has presented on the “Intersection of Climate Change and Tropical Medicine” and “Interdisciplinary Careers & Collaborations” during Emerging Leaders Fora and on “Innovation in R&D” during NAM’s Workshop on COVID-19. Currently, Dr. Bottazzi is a member of the ad hoc committee on “Strategies to Better Align Investments in Innovations for Therapeutic Development with Disease Burden and Unmet Needs”.

Dr. Bottazzi's dedication to scientific research, combined with her commitment to social responsibility, has earned her numerous accolades and honors. In 2023, she was awarded the Vilcek-Gold Award for Humanism in Healthcare and the Rachael Schneerson - John Robbins Prize. For three years in a row, Forbes selected Dr. Bottazzi as one of 100 Most Powerful Women in Central America and in 2022, alongside Dr. Peter Hotez, she was nominated by Texas Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher for the Nobel Peace Prize.

She continues to inspire future generations of scientists through her mentorship and educational outreach efforts, fostering a legacy of excellence in the pursuit of improving health and well-being for all.

Dr. Bottazzi obtained her bachelor’s degree in microbiology and clinical chemistry from the National Autonomous University of Honduras and a doctorate in Molecular Immunology and Experimental Pathology from the University of Florida. Her post-doctoral training in Cellular Biology was completed at University of Miami and Pennsylvania, where afterwards worked at the George Washington University prior to relocating to Texas.

HEATHER LANTHORN, SCD, MPH

Assistant Director, Research and Programs, Duke Global Health Innovation Center

Senior Advisor, Clarity Foundation

Co-founder, Council for Quality Health Communication

Heather focuses on accelerating efficient and equitable access to proven health innovations in low- and middle-income countries and strengthening evidence-based networks for trusted health communication in the United States. She brings over 15 years of expertise in behavioral science, implementation research, and evidence-informed program design to support effective and sustainable health interventions globally.

Prior to Duke, Heather served as Program Director of the Mercury Project at the Social Science Research Council, where she led a $25M initiative to build vaccine demand and trust through rigorous social and behavioral research. Her career spans leadership roles at IDinsight, the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3ie), and Innovations for Poverty Action, where she consistently bridged research and practice to improve health and economic outcomes. She has extensive experience conducting mixed-methods research and evaluations across Ghana, India, Senegal, South Africa, and Uganda.

Heather holds a Doctor of Science (ScD) in Global Health and Population from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (Health Systems), a Master of Public Health from the University of Michigan (Health Behavior and Health Education), and a BA from Wake Forest University (Anthropology). She currently serves as Senior Advisor to the Clarity Foundation, Council on Quality Health Communication, Steering Committee member of Boost Blue Ridge, and is on the board of Feedback Labs.

JOSEPH MARTIN '73, Ph.D

Research Fellow, Pfizer, Bioprocess R&D, Pharmaceutical Sciences (Retired)

Pfizer Global Research and Development

Joe received his A.B in Biology from Harvard in 1973. He performed his NSF- and NIH- supported predoctoral and postdoctoral work in protein chemistry at the Duke Marine Laboratory and in the Biochemistry Department of the Duke Medical Center, respectively. He moved on to Rice University as an NIH New Investigator in infectious diseases in 1981. He joined the nascent Biotechnology Industry in 1988 and spent 34 years working for Pfizer Legacy Companies until his retirement in 2022. Joe was on the development team for Zyvox, a synthetic antibiotic for drug-resistant Staph aureus and tuberculosis. His group developed manufacturing processes for a variety of drugs, including monoclonal antibodies for liver cancer and hemophilia, subunit vaccines for meningitis and clostridial infections, a carbohydrate-based pneumococcal vaccine, an adenovirus-based vaccine for cancer, long lasting human growth hormone for pediatric growth deficiency, and the DNA purification technology supporting the production of Pfizer’s mRNA clinical candidates for the COVID-19 and seasonal flu vaccines. He has worked with bacterial, insect, adenovirus-based, and mammalian expression systems. His groups’ manufacturing processes have been implemented in biomanufacturing facilities in the US, Ireland and Germany. Joe was also a clinical trial volunteer for the COVID-19 and seasonal flu mRNA vaccines.

MICHAEL T. OSTERHOLM, Ph.D, MPH

Director, Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy

University of Minnesota

Dr. Osterholm is Regents Professor, McKnight Presidential Endowed Chair in Public Health, the director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP), Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Division of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, a professor in the Technological Leadership Institute, College of Science and Engineering, and an adjunct professor in the Medical School, all at the University of Minnesota. He is also a member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) and the Council of Foreign Relations. In June 2005 Dr. Osterholm was appointed by Michael Leavitt, Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), to the newly established National Science Advisory Board on Biosecurity. In July 2008, he was named to the University of Minnesota Academic Health Center’s Academy of Excellence in Health Research. In October 2008, he was appointed to the World Economic Forum Working Group on Pandemics.