Model organism anticonvulsant properties of lithium salts, which revolutionized the treatment of bipolar disorder, replacing the previous treatments of lobotomy or electroconvulsive therapy. Modern general anaesthetics, such as halothane and related compounds, were also developed through studies on model organisms, and are necessary for modern, complex surgical operations. In the 1940s, Jonas Salk used rhesus monkey studies to isolate the most virulent forms of the polio virus, which led to his creation of a polio vaccine. The vaccine, which was made publicly available in 1955, reduced the incidence of polio 15-fold in the United States over the following five years. Albert Sabin
Salk Institute for Biological Studies Elizabeth Blackburn, Sydney Brenner, and Roger Guillemin. Three of Salk's 11 Nobel laureates are now deceased: Francis Crick, Robert W. Holley, and Renato Dulbecco. Another five scientists trained at Salk have gone on to win Nobel prizes. The institute is organized into several research units, each of which is further composed of several scientific groups, each led by a member of the faculty. Some of these units are: Elizabeth Blackburn is the President of the Salk Institute since 1 January 2016. Edward Callaway is the chair of the academic council. There are 56 faculty members. Six of these are members