Cold War tensions and the polio vaccine Cold War tensions and the polio vaccine Polio (Infantile paralysis or poliomyelitis) epidemics were a concern during the summer months for children globally, with records of polio from the Egyptians and Greeks to the 1950s epidemics. In the summer of 1921, this epidemic became notorious when Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the Democratic contender for the vice presidency, was struck down by polio at the age of 39. Two U.S. virologists, Jonas Salk of the University of Pittsburgh and Albert B. Sabin of the University of Cincinnati emerged as the most prominent among dozens of American researchers on the quest for a
John B. Robbins John B. Robbins John Bennett Robbins (born December 1, 1932) is a senior investigator at the National Institutes of Health, best known for his development of the vaccine against bacterial meningitis (Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib)) with his colleague Rachel Schneerson. Bacterial meningitis is the leading cause of acquired mental retardation in children. Robbins is a recipient of the 1996 Albert Lasker Award for Clinical Medical Research, the Pasteur Award from the World Health Organization and the Albert B. Sabin Gold Medal in 2001 which he received for playing a major role in the development of Hib conjugate vaccine that