Paul A. Offit, MD is the Director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia as well as the Maurice R. Hilleman Professor of Vaccinology and a Professor of Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a recipient of many awards including the J. Edmund Bradley Prize for Excellence in Pediatrics from the University of Maryland Medical School, the Young Investigator Award in Vaccine Development from the Infectious Disease Society of America, and a Research Career Development Award from the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Offit has published more than 170 papers in medical and scientific journals in the areas of rotavirus-specific immune responses and vaccine safety. He is also the co-inventor of the rotavirus vaccine, RotaTeq, recommended for universal use in infants by the CDC in 2006 and by the WHO in 2013; for this achievement Dr. Offit received the Luigi Mastroianni and William Osler Awards from the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, the Charles Mérieux Award from the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases; and was honored by Bill and Melinda Gates during the launch of their Foundation’s Living Proof Project for global health. In 2009, Dr. Offit received the President’s Certificate for Outstanding Service from the American Academy of Pediatrics. In 2011, Dr. Offit received the David E. Rogers Award from the American Association of Medical Colleges, the Odyssey Award from the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest and was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences. In 2012, Dr. Offit received the Distinguished Medical Achievement Award from the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. In 2013, Dr. Offit received the Maxwell Finland award for Outstanding Scientific Achievement from the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases and the Distinguished Alumnus award from the University of Maryland School of Medicine. In 2015, Dr. Offit won the Lindback Award for Distinguished Teaching from the University of Pennsylvania and was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. In 2016, Dr. Offit won the Franklin Founder Award from the city of Philadelphia, The Porter Prize from the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Philadelphia Business Journal, and the Jonathan E. Rhoads Medal for Distinguished Service to Medicine from the American Philosophical Society. In 2018, Dr. Offit received the Gold Medal from the Sabin Vaccine Institute and in 2019 the John P. McGovern Award from the American Medical Writers Association and in 2020 the Public Educator Award from CHILD USA. In 2021, Dr. Offit was awarded the Edward Jenner Lifetime Achievement Award in Vaccinology from the 15 th Vaccine Congress and was elected to the Baltimore Jewish Hall of Fame. In 2022, Dr. Offit received the Mentor of the Year Award from the Eastern Society for Pediatric Research and the Dean’s Alumni Leadership Award from the University of Maryland School of Medicine. In 2023, Dr. Offit was elected to membership in the American Philosophical Society. Dr. Offit was a member of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, is currently a member of the FDA’s Vaccine Advisory Committee and is a founding advisory board member of the Autism Science Foundation and the Foundation for Vaccine Research.

He is also the author of ten medical narratives:
The Cutter Incident: How America’s First Polio Vaccine Led to Today’s Growing Vaccine Crisis (Yale University Press, 2005)
Vaccinated: One Man’s Quest to Defeat the World’s Deadliest Diseases (HarperCollins, 2007)
Autism’s False Prophets: Bad Science, Risky Medicine, and the Search for a Cure (Columbia University Press, 2008)
Deadly Choices: How the Anti- Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All (Basic Books, 2011)
Do You Believe in Magic?: The Sense and Nonsense of Alternative Medicine (HarperCollins, 2013)
Bad Faith: When Religious Belief Undermines Modern Medicine (Basic Books, 2015)
Pandora’s Lab: Seven Stories of Science Gone Wrong (National Geographic Press/Random House, April 2017)
Bad Advice: Or Why Celebrities, Politicians, and Activists Aren’t Your Best Source of Health Information (Columbia University Press, June 2018)
Overkill: When Modern Medicine Goes Too Far (HarperCollins, April, 2020)
You Bet Your Life: From Blood Transfusions to Mass Vaccinations—The Long and Risky History of Medical Innovations (Basic Books, 2021)
Tell Me When It’s Over: An Insider’s Guide to COVID Myths and Navigating Our Post-Pandemic World (National Geographic Press, in press, 2024).

Bay Area Skeptics encourage rational thought and critical thinking through the use of scientific methods. We also promote critical thinking and accuracy in the media and in our schools. We are particularly interested in such topics as claims of the paranormal, pseudoscience and untested or poorly tested medical and psychotherapeutic practices.
People in Bay Area Skeptics come from diverse backgrounds and professions and represent all age groups.