Jonas Salk Jonas Salk Jonas Edward Salk (; October 28, 1914June 23, 1995) was an American medical researcher and virologist. He discovered and developed one of the first successful polio vaccines. Born in New York City, he attended New York University School of Medicine, later choosing to do medical research instead of becoming a practicing physician. In 1939, after earning his medical degree, Salk began an internship as a physician scientist at Mount Sinai Hospital. Two years later he was granted a fellowship at the University of Michigan, where he would study flu viruses with his mentor Thomas Francis, Jr. Until 1955,
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