1914 - 1995 He was an American medical researcher and a virologist who is known as a developer of the first successful vaccine against poliomyelitis. Full Name Jonas Edward Salk Birthdate October 28, 1914 Birthplace East Harlem, New York Father’s Name Occupation Daniel B Salk Garment worker Mother’s Name Dora Press Religion Orthodox Jewish - Polish Name of Spouse Occupation Donna Lindsay Social Worker Children Peter Salk Darrel Salk Jonathan Salk HIGH SCHOOL Townsend Harris High School COLLEGE City College of New York MEDICAL SCHOOL Dr Salk with his mentor Dr Thomas Francis New York University School of Medicine "As a child I was not interested in science. I was INTERNSHIP merely interested in things human, the human side of nature, if you like, and I continue to be interested in Mt Sinai Hospital that.” -Jonas Salk, MD courtesy of his interview in Academy of Achievement “. . .it was the laboratory work, in particular, which gave new direction to his life.” - Oshinsky He moved to the University of Michigan to join Dr. Francis and worked on an army-commissioned project in Michigan to develop an influenza vaccine in which it is a formalin-killedvirus vaccine He accepted an offer from William McEllroy, dean of the University of Pittsburg Medical School, to be an associate research professor of bacteriology where he continued his research on flu vaccines "Paralytic poliomyelitis (its formal name) was, if not the most serious, easily the most frightening public health problem of the postwar era.” - William O’Neill, American Historian A girl infected by the virus Jonas Salk talks to children with polio “…scientists were in a frantic race to find a cure.” - O’neill In 1952 58,000 Parents carry a stricken child during the polio scare. cases of polio was reported with 3, 145 people dying Polio patients in an Iron Lungs in 1952 He used a killed- virus vaccine, in which it was killed with formaldehyde in 13 days. The first people to be inoculated with Salk’s vaccine were his wife and 3 children. Polio Myelitis causes permanent paralysis in those it strikes or chronic shortness or breath often leads to death By 1951, Salk was able to classify the polio viruses into 3 types Salk and the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis conducted the first field trial of Salk’s vaccine in 1952 involving 20,000 physicians and public health officers, 64,000 school personnel and 220,000 volunteers with over 1, 800, 000 children in trial In April 12, 1955, Dr Francis who monitor the results, declared that. . . The success brought Salk to instant stardom: He received offers from Hollywood; Pleas from top manufacturers to endorse their products; He was awarded with a congressional medal for great ahievement and was nominated for a Nobel Prize. In 1957, he became a professor in Experimental Medicine in University of Pittsburg. He began to work on vaccines against viral infections in the central nervous system. Salk also conducted important research on the prevention and treatment of influenza, multiple sclerosis, cancer, and Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. Dr Albert Sabin In the same year as Salk developed the killed-virus vaccine. He developed the live-virus vaccine against polio which is taken orally rather than intravenously in the same year as Salk developed the killed-virus vaccine. US did not permitted him to make a field trial in the country, and Sabin did it in Europe which was effective too. Although Jonas Salk is credited with ending the scourge of polio because his killed-virus vaccine was first to market, Albert Sabin’s sweet-tasting and inexpensive oral vaccine are commonly used worldwide. "The live virus vaccine is highly effective in developed countries ...” -Dr Salk in his press conference in 1980 By 1963, Salk opened an institute called Salk Institute for Biological Studies under his leadership. "I thought how nice it would be if a place like this existed and I was invited to work there.“ - Dr Salk in 1963 1956, awarded the Lasker Award 1957, the Municipal Hospital building is renamed Jonas Salk Hall and is home to the University's School of Pharmacy and Dentistry 1958, awarded the James D. Bruce Memorial Award 1975, awarded the Jawaharlal Nehru Award and the Congressional Gold Medal 1976, Jonas Salk received the Academy of Achievement's Golden Plate Award 1976, named the Humanist of the Year by the American Humanist Association 1977, awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Jimmy Carter 2006, the United States Postal Service issued a 63 cent Distinguished Americans series postage stamp in his honor. 2007, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady Maria Shriver inducted Salk into the California Hall of Fame 2009, BBYO boys chapter chartered in his honor in Scottsdale, Arizona, named "Jonas Salk AZA #2357" Schools in Mesa, Arizona; Spokane, Washington; Tulsa, Oklahoma; Bolingbrook, Illinois; Levittown, New York; Old Bridge, New Jersey; Merrillville, Indiana, and Sacramento, California, are named after him. In 1966, New York times referred to him as the Father of Biophilosophy. "As a biologist, he believes that his science is on the frontier of tremendous new discoveries; and as a philosopher, he is convinced that humanists and artists have joined the scientists to achieve an understanding of man in all his physical, mental and spiritual complexity.” - Howard Taubman, New York times Journalist Jonas Salk died from heart failure at the age of 80 on June 23, 1995 in La Jolla and was buried at El Camino Memorial Park in San Diego. http://www.squidoo.com/jonas-salk http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonas_Salk http://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/palitmap/bios/Salk__Jona s.html http://www.libraries.uc.edu/liblog/wpcontent/uploads/2012/04/sabinandnixon.jpg http://img.tfd.com/mk/S/X2604-S-04.tif.png http://www.polioplace.org/people/jonas-salk-md David M. Oshinsky, Polio: An American Story, Oxford University Press, 2005. Jeffrey Kluger, Splendid Solution: Jonas Salk and the Conquest of Polio, Berkley Trade, 2006 Jonas Salk interview with Academy of Achievement Taubman, Howard. "Father of Biophilosophy" The New York Times, Nov. 11, 1966 “There are two types of medical specialists. There are those who fight disease day and night, who assist mankind in times of despair and agony and who preside over the awesome events of life and death. Others work in the quiet detachment of the laboratory; their names are often unknown to the general public, but their research may have momentous consequences” Dr Jonas Edward Salk in Wisdom Magazine 1956
