Jonas Salk

Jonas got married to Donna Lindsay right after he became an MD in the year 1939. The couple had 3 children, all boys named Peter Salk, Darrell Salk and Jonathon Salk. They got a divorce in the 39th year of their marriage.

In the year 1970, Salk remarried and his second wife was the famous Francoise Gilot, Pablo Picasso’s one time girlfriend.

This eminent virologist died at the age of 80 of a cardiac arrest on June 23, 1995.

Jason Salk was born to Polish immigrants Daniel Salk and Dora Salk in New York on October 28, 1914. Jason was the eldest of the three boys in the family; his youngest brother Lee Salk went on to become a child psychiatrist.

The ‘Townsend Harris High School’ in New York was renowned for being a haven for highly gifted students and in the year 1927, Jason enrolled in the prestigious institution. The tough academic demands of the school formed the basis of his career.

Like so many others who were able to graduate from ‘Townsend Harris High School’, Salk also managed to get a place at the prestigious ‘City College of New York’. In the year 1934, he was awarded his bachelor degree in chemistry.

In the year 1935 Salk enrolled in the Medicine course at ‘New York University’, where he showed remarkable academic prowess and the curiosity that is so crucial for future researchers. He received his degree four years later. At NYU he got the opportunity to work with well known researcher Thomas Francis Jr.

In the year 1942, Jonas teamed up with, his long time collaborator in medical research endeavours, Thomas Francis for a short stint at the ‘University of Michigan’. It was during this particular stint that Salk decided that he was going to be a virologist.

Although Salk did serve residency at the ‘Mount Sinai Hospital’ and continued with his research, he found it difficult to get a suitable job due to Jewish quotas at different universities. Finally he accepted an offer to become the head of virology at the ‘University of Pittsburgh’ in the year 1947.

It was in the year 1952 that years of painstaking research, on the devastating virus, bore fruit as the initial tests were conducted. It was three years later that the polio vaccine became available across the United States.

Salk continued to work in research at ‘University of Pittsburgh’ and held the position as professor in the fields of experimental medicine and bacteriology among others.

In the year, 1963, he helped in establishing the ‘Institute of Biological Studies’ at San Diego, California. It later came to be known as the ‘Salk Institute’. He continued to serve as the director of that particular institute for many years.

Jonas Salk worked in plenty of highly important projects throughout his career but his most important and path breaking work was the invention of the polio vaccine that went on to save the lives of millions across the world.