Julius Youngner Health Service, National Institutes of Health Cancer Institute before joining the Salk team responsible for polio vaccine. As a member of the Jonas Salk research team, Youngner contributed in the development of polio vaccine, including techniques for large scale production of poliovirus and the rapid color test measurement of polio virus in living tissue. He is considered "one of the seminal figures in contemporary virology and it's been that way for more than 50 years" by Arthur S. Levine, senior vice chancellor for the health sciences at University of Pittsburgh. Research by Youngner and colleague Samuel Salvin was also responsible
Jonas Salk as his primary interest. He said his desire was to help humankind in general rather than single patients. "It was the laboratory work, in particular, that gave new direction to his life." According to Salk: "My intention was to go to medical school, and then become a medical scientist. I did not intend to practice medicine, although in medical school, and in my internship, I did all the things that were necessary to qualify me in that regard. I had opportunities along the way to drop the idea of medicine and go into science. At one point at the end