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
Sabin Vaccine Institute Development, the Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases, and Vaccine Advocacy and Education. Through its Product Development Partnership (PDP), Sabin has worked with organizations such as King Saud University, Texas Children's Hospital Center, International Vaccine Institute, and George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences toward its goals, with funding and support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Brazilian Ministry of Health and other benefactors. In 2012, Sabin partnered with International Vaccine Institute to combine their research, development, and promotion efforts in Asia,