Memorably Remembered: Jonas Edward Salk developed the first safe and effective vaccine for polio.

Jonas Salk was an American physician and medical researcher who developed the first safe and effective vaccine for polio.

Jonas Salk was born October 28, 1914, in New York City. In 1942 at the University Of Michigan School Of Public Health he became part of a group that was working to develop a vaccine against the flu. In 1947 he became head of the Virus Research Lab at the University of Pittsburgh. At Pittsburgh he began research on polio. On April 12, 1955, the vaccine was released for use in the United States. He established the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in 1963. Salk died in 1995

His Early Life

Salk was encouraged by his parent to apply for his studies. Born into a poor family in New York City on October 28, 1914, where his father worked in the garment district.

Salk took a position at University of Pittsburgh; in 1947. He began conducting research on polio, also known as infantile paralysis. By 1951, Salk had determined that there were three distinct types of polio viruses and was able to develop a "killed virus" vaccine for the disease. The vaccine used polio viruses that had been grown in a laboratory and then destroyed.

Preliminary testing of the polio vaccine began in 1952. Then it expanded over the next two years, making it one of the largest clinical trials in medical history. Roughly 2 million children were given the vaccine during the test phase. Salk's efforts were supported and promoted by the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis and its president Basil O'Connor. The Vaccine was approved for general use in 1955, Salk became a national hero. President Dwight D. Eisenhower gave him a special citation at a ceremony held in the Rose Garden at the White House.

In the first decade Salk vaccine had immeasurable impact as there were more than 57,000 polio cases in united States in 1952  but was later replaced with a Live virus vaccine developed by Albert Sabin because It was less expensive and easier to use.

 In 1963, Salk launched his own research organization known as the Salk Center for Biological Studies. His team of scientist were focused on such diseases as multiple sclerosis and cancer. Salk served as the center's director until 1975, and he then became its founding director. Continuing to research, Salk studied AIDS and HIV later in his career.

Salk also wrote several books on philosophical topics. His works include Man Unfolding (1972) and The Survival of the Wisest (1973), which he co-wrote with son Jonathan.

Salk was married to social worker Donna Lindsay from 1939 to 1968. The couple had three sons together: Peter, Darrell and Jonathan. In 1970, he married artist Francoise Gilot, who had previously been romantically involved with Pablo Picasso.

Jonas Salk died of heart failure on June 23, 1995, at his home in La Jolla, California and he would be remembered as the man who stopped polio