We are pleased to introduce the first confirmed keynote and plenary speakers for ICOPA 2026, a distinguished lineup of experts who will share their latest parasotology research and insights at the upcoming congress in Montréal.
Keynote Speakers
PETER HOTEZ
USA
Dr. Peter Hotez
USA
Prof. Peter Hotez MD PhD DSc (hon) FAAP FASTMH 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. He is also University Professor of Biology at Baylor University, Senior Fellow in Disease and Humanity at the James A Baker III Institute for Public Policy. 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. He is also an ardent vaccine advocate and science explainer who combats antiscience and antisemitism in America, and globally.
Prof. Hotez has authored four single-authored books with Johns Hopkins University Press, including Vaccines Did Not Cause Rachel’s Autism, Preventing the Next Pandemic, and The Deadly Rise of Anti-science ,and in 2025 will co-author Science Under Siege(Public Affairs)with the climate scientist, Michael Mann. Dr. Hotez obtained his B.A. (phi beta kappa) from Yale University, M.D. from Weill Cornell Medical College, and Ph.D. from Rockefeller University. He obtained his pediatric residency and fellowship training from Massachusetts General Hospital and Yale School of Medicine.
Prof. Hotez is the author of more than 700 scientific papers, and he is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine and American Academy of Arts and Sciences and has received numerous awards. They include the Scientific Freedom and Responsibility Award from AAAS, the Scientific Achievement Award from the AMA, the David E Rogers Award from the AAMC, the Science and Society Award from Sigma Xi, the Porter Prize in public health from the University of Pittsburgh, Winslow Medal from Yale School of Public Health, Mendel Medal in science and religion from Villanova University, Milton Popkin Award from the ADL Southwest, and LBJ Moral Courage Award from the Holocaust Museum Houston. He was named TIME MagazineHealth100 in 2024.
He has three honorary Doctor of Science degrees. Prof. Hotez served as US Science Envoy for the Middle East and North Africa in 2015-16, and he appears frequently on national media to explain biomedicine and pandemics.
OSAMU KUNII
JAPAN
OSAMU KUNII
JAPAN
Osamu KUNII, MD, PhD, MPH is currently serving as CEO and Executive Director of the Global Health Innovative Technology Fund (GHIT), which promotes R&D of therapeutics, diagnostics and vaccines against infectious diseases in LMICs such as neglected tropical diseases, tuberculosis and malaria. In the past 30 years he has been engaged in global health, especially infectious diseases control, humanitarian emergencies, and maternal and child health, through NGO, JICA, academia, Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, UNICEF, and the Global Fund. He serves as visiting professor in several universities, and has published over 100 articles and books related to global health. Recently he served as Deputy Director of G7 Hiroshima Global Health Taskforce and Chair of 100 Days Mission Working Group. Graduating from Jichi Medical University, Osamu Kunii obtained M.P.H. from Harvard School of Public Health and Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo.
Plenary Speakers
Cesar de la Fuente
USA
Presidential Associate Professor at the University of Pennsylvania (Penn), leading the Machine Biology Group
Abdoulaye Djimde
Mali
Parasites and Microbes Research and Training Center, University of Science, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako, Bamako, Mali
Elodie Ghedin
USA
Senior investigator at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
Adrian Hill
UK
Director of the Jenner Institute, University of Oxford
Kevin Lafferty
USA
Marine ecologist and senior ecologist for the USGS
Adjunct Professor, UCSB
Principal Investigator, UCSB Marine Science Institute
Neta Regev-Rudzki
Israel
Lab Head, Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science
Joanne Webster
UK
Professor of Parasitic Diseases
Royal Veterinary College, University of London (and Imperial College, Faculty of Medicine)
For more information about the session types, topics and speakers at the ICOPA 2026 congress, check out the scientific program page.
