Infection beyond doubt that certain diseases are caused by infectious agents, and developed a vaccine for rabies. Robert Koch, provided the study of infectious diseases with a scientific basis known as Koch's postulates. Edward Jenner, Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin developed effective vaccines for smallpox and polio, which would later result in the eradication and near-eradication of these diseases, respectively. Alexander Fleming discovered the world's first antibiotic, Penicillin, which Florey and Chain then developed. Gerhard Domagk developed sulphonamides, the first broad spectrum synthetic antibacterial drugs. The medical treatment of infectious diseases falls into the medical field of Infectious Disease and in
Jonas Salk ... who read everything he could lay his hands on," according to one of his fellow students. Students had to cram a four-year curriculum into just three years. As a result, most dropped out or flunked out, despite the school's motto "study, study, study." Of the students who graduated, however, most would have the grades to enroll in CCNY, noted for being a highly competitive college. Salk enrolled in CCNY from which he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry in 1934. Oshinsky writes that "for working-class immigrant families, City College represented the apex of public higher education. Getting