Pioneer 7 of 21 · 1914-1995
Jonas Salk
Contribution. Developed the first widely used polio vaccine.
Factor coverage
Favorable entries (helped or barrier absent) and adverse entries (barrier or not overcome) by factor. Factor tags are this site's classification.
Barriers faced
| Factors | Statement |
|---|---|
| Economic | Born in New York to poor Russian-Jewish immigrants. |
What helped
| Factors | Statement |
|---|---|
| Educational Economic | Free public education at Townsend Harris High School and City College of New York. |
| Social | A mentor. Thomas Francis Jr. trained him on inactivated influenza vaccines. When other positions turned him down, Salk returned to Francis. |
| Technological | Others' discoveries. In 1949 Enders, Weller, and Robbins grew poliovirus in tissue culture. |
| Economic Societal | Public funding. The March of Dimes, founded in 1938, funded the research and trials. |
| Social | Mass participation. Volunteers ran the 1954 trial of 1.8 million children. In April 1955 the vaccine was reported safe and 80 to 90% effective against paralytic polio. |
Notes
| Factors | Statement |
|---|---|
| Social | Some colleagues criticized Salk for not crediting the researchers his work built on. |
Pattern summary
| Element | In this case |
|---|---|
| Door-opener | Francis |
| Knowledge source | Free public college |
| Institutional support | March of Dimes |
| Built on recent work | Enders, Weller, Robbins |
| Setback overcome | Rejections |
| Barrier not overcome | Credit disputes |
Not independently verified. City College being tuition-free during Salk's attendance was not independently verified.
Sources
- Smithsonian Magazine: Jonas Salk
- Science History Institute: Salk and Sabin
- University of Michigan School of Public Health: 1955 polio vaccine trial announcement
Also relevant: Bell, A., Chetty, R., Jaravel, X., Petkova, N., & Van Reenen, J. (2019). Who becomes an inventor in America? Quarterly Journal of Economics, 134(2), 647-713. All references