Mikhail Chumakov Mikhail Chumakov Mikhail Petrovich Chumakov () (November 14, 1909 – June 11, 1993) was a Soviet microbiologist and virologist most famous for conducting pivotal large-scale clinical trials that led to licensing of the Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) developed by Albert B. Sabin. Chumakov graduated in 1931 from Moscow State University Medical School that was later transformed into I.M. Sechenov Moscow Medical Academy. In 1937 Chumakov participated in a scientific expedition to Khabarovsk region of Soviet Far East that was led by Professor . Together with his colleagues he discovered the etiology of a new transmissible neurological disease called tick-borne encephalitis
Cold War tensions and the polio vaccine flew to Leningrad in June, 1956. As a result of a cooperation of Sabin and Chumakov in Leningrad, Sabin was able to test his attenuated vaccine when funding in America was declined. While Sabin was working behind the Iron Curtain, the Sabin-Chumakov vaccine was determined to be safe and effective. Cold War tensions caused Western scientists to refuse the reports from the Russians about the effectiveness of the Sabin vaccine. However, mass vaccinations of Sabin's vaccine spread throughout Eastern Europe from 1960–1963. Just as some Soviet virologists did not trust the Western Salk vaccine, Americans had similar reservations about the