Dr. Peter Salk, President – Jonas Salk Legacy Foundation

Jonas Salk’s Centenary Year – a Vision for the Future

Jonas Salk is an icon in the history of medicine.  The polio vaccine he and his research team developed in the early 1950s lifted a pervasive fear.  He is less well known for his earlier work on the first influenza vaccine, his founding of the Salk Institute, and his relentless pursuit of ways to alleviate human suffering in diverse realms.  This talk, given by Dr. Peter Salk, will touch on these various aspects of his life.

Dr. Peter Salk graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard University in 1965 and Alpha Omega Alpha from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1969. Following two years of house staff training in internal medicine at the University Hospitals of Cleveland, he worked in his father’s laboratory at the Salk Institute from 1972-1984 conducting research on the biology and immunotherapy of cancer and autoimmune disease and strategies for vaccine production. He worked again with his father from 1991-1995 on a project to develop an inactivated vaccine for HIV infection, and subsequently worked on the introduction of AIDS treatment programs in Africa and Asia. He is currently President of the Jonas Salk Legacy Foundation, where he is devoting attention to educating the public regarding his father’s life and work and to extending and applying his father’s vision to help address humanity’s present challenges and opportunities, particularly in the realms of vaccines, global health, and creating a sustainable human future.