Tyler Carley Period 1&2 Nursing 158 Professor Diane Frankenfield November 13th, 2013 Jonas Salk: An Inspirational

Outcome Jonas Salk was born in New York City on October 28th, 1914. His parents were Russian-Jewish immigrants and lacked education. Even though they were devoid of formal education they were determined to see their children succeed. They continuously encouraged and pushed their children to further their education. Jonas Salk was the first in the family to attend college, he entered the City College of New York intending to study law, but soon became fascinated in medical research. While attending medical school in Ney York, at New York University, Salk was asked to spend a year researching the influenza virus. Considering that the virus was only recently found Salk was only to eager to begin his work with the virus. He believed there was a way the virus could be deprived of its ability to actually infect its host, while still providing immunity from it. Salks work was successful and his research of the influenza virus was the basis of his later work towards immunity from polio. After finishing medical school and his internship, he returned to the influenza virus. When WWII began many people feared that a flu epidemic would once again make an appearance like it had after WWI. Thankfully, with the development of vaccines we were able to control the spread of the flu and avoid the impending reoccurrence of the epidemic of 1919. In 1947, Salk accepted a position at the University of Pittsburg Medical School. There, the bright scientist found the opportunity to work with the polio virus. He thought he could apply the same principle to the polio virus that he did to the earlier work he conducted. Through his research in college

Carley 2 he figured that he could create a vaccine that contained the virus in it but was ineffective to its host, but still provided immunity. After eight long years he finally did it, he created a successful polio vaccine! In 1955 human trials of the polio vaccine effectively protected the subject from the polio virus. When the news went public on April 12th, 1955 Salk was hailed as a miracle worker. He then became even more loved by the people when he refused to patent it, saying he had no desire to profit from the vaccine. He merely wished to see the vaccine disseminated as widely as possible. Salk's vaccine was composed of "killed" polio virus, which retained the ability to immunize without running the risk of infecting the patient. In countries where Salk's vaccine has remained in use, the disease has been virtually eradicated. In 1963, Salk founded the Jonas Salk Institute for Biological Studies, an innovative center for medical and scientific research. Jonas Salk continued to conduct research and publish books, some written in collaboration with one or more of his sons, who are also medical scientists. Dr. Salks last years were spent searching for a vaccine against AIDS. He was a well loved man and was eternally dedicated to eradicating sickness on the planet. Salk died at the age of 80 years old on June 23rd, 1955.

Reference Reitz, J. M. (2007). Margin. ODLIS: Online dictionary for library and information science. Retrieved from http://lu.com/odlis/odlis_M.cfm#

Questions 1. What president had polio?- FDR 2. Why was Jonas Salk revered in the public eye?- He did not patent his work 3. What was Jonas Salks greatest accomplishment?- The Polio Vaccine