María Elena Bottazzi

A microbiologist and clinical chemist graduated from the National Autonomous University of Honduras (UNAH), she co-directs with Peter Hotez the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children’s Hospital, which developed the patent-free and therefore cheaper to produce Covid-19 Corbevax vaccine. In December 2021, the vaccine was granted emergency use approval in India and since then more than 30 million doses have been administered. These efforts to develop an effective, safe and inexpensive vaccine resulted in Bottazzi and Hotez being nominated for the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize.