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Who is Jonas Salk?

Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon

Jonas Salk was an American microbiologist and scientific researcher who lived from 1914-1995. Although Salk is most famously remembered for his work on the polio vaccine in the 1950s, he also contributed a number of advances to infectious disease prevention and treatment. Around the world, Jonas Salk is viewed as a hero in many communities, since millions of people have avoided potentially fatal polio infections with the assistance of his famous vaccine.

Salk was born into a Jewish New York family in 1914. When he initially went to university, he studied law, but he ended up switching to medicine, graduating in 1939. In the 1940s, Jonas Salk worked at the University of Michigan, studying influenza. His studies became extremely important during the Second World War, when influenza infection posed a major risk to American soldiers overseas. Salk was among the first to recognize that a killed virus could be used in vaccine production to make a much safer and equally productive vaccine, and this discovery played a major role in the development of an influenza vaccine.

Jonas Salk developed the first polio vaccine, which is still given via injection to people today.
Jonas Salk developed the first polio vaccine, which is still given via injection to people today.

After his work on influenza, Salk moved to the University of Pittsburgh, where he began work on a vaccine for polio. At the time, polio was a devastating disease and many people lived in fear for their children during the summer months, when polio infections tended to increase astronomically. Using his work with killed viruses, Jonas Salk developed a safe and effective polio vaccine which was released to the public in 1954.

After his work on influenza, Salk moved to the University of Pittsburgh, where he began work on a vaccine for polio.
After his work on influenza, Salk moved to the University of Pittsburgh, where he began work on a vaccine for polio.

Although Jonas Salk is treated like a hero today, at the time he met with some opposition. Some scientists believed that his vaccine simply wouldn't work, and they were extremely skeptical about its introduction. In 1957, a bad batch of vaccine actually caused polio infections in a small group of people, leading to increased criticism about the vaccine. However, Jonas Salk persevered, fighting for the validity and usefulness of his vaccine because he believed in it.

In 1963, Jonas Salk moved to San Diego, where he became the director of a research institute which came to be known as the Salk Institute. He conducted a wide assortment of research projects there; in his later years, Salk worked on a vaccine for AIDS. Although Salk was not successful, some microbiologists think that he may have laid the groundwork, and he certainly provided hope to the scientific community.

Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon

Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a PublicPeople researcher and writer. Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.

Learn more...
Mary McMahon
Mary McMahon

Ever since she began contributing to the site several years ago, Mary has embraced the exciting challenge of being a PublicPeople researcher and writer. Mary has a liberal arts degree from Goddard College and spends her free time reading, cooking, and exploring the great outdoors.

Learn more...

Discussion Comments

anon292710

Did he get the Nobel Peace Prize?

anon152777

Am very pleased to see this on the internet. I was given microbiology in my school. So, decided to go on net to get more information and am very pleased with what I have seen.

anon109251

thank you so much for this site. it helps a lot because my great uncle has polio. and it helps on my research paper too, and i think he was a great man that changed the world.

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    • Jonas Salk developed the first polio vaccine, which is still given via injection to people today.
      By: Jaimie Duplass
      Jonas Salk developed the first polio vaccine, which is still given via injection to people today.
    • After his work on influenza, Salk moved to the University of Pittsburgh, where he began work on a vaccine for polio.
      By: Gino Santa Maria
      After his work on influenza, Salk moved to the University of Pittsburgh, where he began work on a vaccine for polio.