10/28/2026
Pittsburghers claims Dr. Jonas Salk as one of the city's greatest heroes.
Born in New York City, Salk in 1947 was appointed director of the Virus Research Laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.
With funding from the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis — now known as the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation — he began to develop the techniques that would lead to a vaccine to wipe out the most frightening scourge of the time: paralytic poliomyelitis.
Contrary to the era’s prevailing scientific opinion, Salk believed his vaccine, composed of “killed” polio virus, could immunize without risk of infecting the patient, according to the Salk Institute for Biological Studies.
Salk administered the vaccine to volunteers who had not had polio, including himself, his lab scientist, his wife and their children. All developed anti-polio antibodies and experienced no negative reactions to the vaccine.
In 1954, testing began on one million American children, who became known as the Polio Pioneers. On April 12, 1955, the results were announced: the vaccine was safe and effective.
In the two years before the vaccine was widely available, the average number of polio cases in the U.S. was more than 45,000. By 1962, that number had dropped to 910.
Hailed as a miracle worker, Salk never patented the vaccine or earned any money from his discovery, preferring it be distributed as widely as possible.
Learn more: salk.edu/about/history-of-salk/jonas-salk/
Salk Institute
