Inspirational Quotes by Jonas Salk (American Virologist)

Jonas Edward Salk (1914–95) was an American virologist and immunologist. In the early 1950s, he created the standard Salk vaccine against polio, using a virus inactivated by formalin. He later became the director of the institute in San Diego that bears his name.

Born in New York City to Orthodox Jewish-Polish immigrants, Salk was educated at New York University College of Medicine, obtaining his MD in 1939. He taught there and at other schools of medicine and public health. In 1963, he became director of the Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California, later called the Salk Institute.

Salk’s early research was on the influenza virus. In 1954, he became known worldwide for his work on the ‘Salk vaccine’ against poliomyelitis. His inactivated vaccine (the “killed-virus vaccine”) had to overcome initial antagonism arising from 1935. However, a trial in 1954 showed that Salk’s vaccination was 80–90 percent efficacious. By the end of 1955, over 7 million doses had been administered. In the 1960s, the SABIN vaccine superseded Salk’s vaccine. Developed by Polish-American medical researcher Albert Sabin, this used a live attenuated strain and could be given orally instead of by injection.

Salk spent his final years researching HIV. He also campaigned vigorously for mandatory vaccination, calling the universal vaccination of children against the infection a “moral commitment.”

Salk’s works include Man Unfolding (1972,) Survival of the Wisest (1973,) and World Population and Human Values: A New Reality (1981.) Worthwhile biographies are Marjorie Curson’s Jonas Salk (1990) and Richard Carter’s Breakthrough: The Saga of Jonas Salk (1965.)

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