Polio Control & Eradication Presentation

Registration: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_JzaY9nyhSTSfh8uRSN1JWA#/registration 

Son of Polio Vaccine Pioneer Dr. Jonas Salk to Speak at Rotary E-Club of Wall Street for October’s World Polio Day

The Rotary E-Club of Wall Street is proud to announce that Dr. Peter L. Salk, eldest son of legendary polio vaccine creator Dr. Jonas Salk, will be the guest speaker at our upcoming meeting on Wednesday, October 14 at Noon EST. Attendees can access Dr. Salk’s presentation by registering at the URL above to receive the meeting link.

As an added bonus, student and teacher representatives of New York City’s Salk School of Science will be in attendance for Dr. Salk’s presentation.

Dr. Salk, a physician, researcher, and adjunct professor of infectious diseases and microbiology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, will deliver a presentation titled “Polio Control and Eradication: A Personal Perspective”. His talk will highlight the critical role Rotary has played in the near elimination of this disease, which, at its peak, killed or paralyzed over half a million people a year.

During his presentation, Dr. Salk will share his memories and reflections, including the morning in 1953 when his father first inoculated him and his brothers with the experimental polio vaccine at their kitchen table. He will bridge these early memories with our current era, raising questions about how modern society can best address vaccine hesitancy, regain public trust in medical science, and revive the spirit of civic collaboration that defined the fight against polio.

"We are deeply honored to host Dr. Peter Salk," said Stefan Pfneisl, President of the Rotary E-Club of Wall Street. "Rotary International has been at the forefront of global polio prevention and eradication for over four decades. Hearing directly from someone who witnessed the dawn of the polio vaccine era offers our members a profound reminder of why our ongoing mission to end polio remains so critical."

The club is offering an opportunity for those interested to donate to Rotary’s longstanding End Polio Now program by visiting this link: https://raise.rotary.org/en-GB/project/conversation-with-dr-peter-salk Dr. Salk has served as president of the Jonas Salk Legacy Foundation, and is currently working with his two brothers to create a collaborative network dedicated to preserving and extending his father’s humanitarian vision. Jonas Salk famously stated that there was no patent on the polio vaccine, asking, "Could you patent the sun?" – reflecting his own emphasis on science being oriented towards the public good.

About The Rotary E-Club of Wall Street The Rotary E-Club of Wall Street is a local chapter of Rotary International, a global network of 1.4 million neighbors, friends, leaders, and problem-solvers who see a world where people unite and take action to create lasting change. Local initiatives focus on community service, literacy, health, and clean water access. You can learn more the Rotary E-Club of Wall Street by visiting our website: https://wallstreetrotary.org/

Peter Salk biography Dr. Peter L. Salk is an American physician, researcher, and professor who has devoted his life to improving both individual and societal health. Born in1944, he is the eldest son of Dr. Jonas Salk, who led the team at the University of Pittsburgh that developed the first successful polio vaccine, and Donna Lindsay, a clinical social worker. In 1953, at nine years old, Peter and his two brothers joined the early group of children that received his father's experimental inactivated poliovirus vaccine. Their inoculations took place in the family kitchen, a step that Dr. Jonas Salk took to demonstrate his confidence in the safety of the vaccine before launching expanded trials in the Pittsburgh schools and then nationwide. Following in his father's scientific footsteps, Peter earned a medical degree and then worked alongside his father at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California, conducting research on immunological approaches to treating both cancer and autoimmune diseases (such as multiple sclerosis), and later in developing and evaluating a potential vaccine for prevention and treatment of HIV/AIDS. Today, he maintains a strong connection to his father's academic roots by serving as an adjunct professor of infectious diseases and microbiology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health. Dr. Salk has also served as president of the Jonas Salk Legacy Foundation, and together with his two brothers is exploring additional collaborative programs dedicated to preserving and extending his father’s humanitarian vision. He often speaks to the media and the public about individual and societal health, drawing critical lessons from the fight against polio that began with the first vaccine in the 1950s and continues today, to address current vaccine hesitancy and global health challenges. Using the narrative of the success of the 1950s polio vaccine trials to illustrate what can be achieved when a population unites, he reminds us that the polio vaccine development was not funded by the government but by over 100 million ordinary Americans donating dimes and dollars to the March of Dimes.