The Vaccine Advisory Committee recommended large-scale national trial of Salk’s vaccine
On Apr. 25, 1954, the Vaccine Advisory Committee of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, now known as…
Dr. C. Walton Lillehei performed the world’s first open-heart operation using cross-circulation
On Mar. 26, 1954, Dr. C. Walton Lillehei at the University of Minnesota performed the world’s first open-heart…
Polio vaccine developed by Dr. Jonas Salk first used in mass inoculation
On Feb. 23, 1954, the first mass inoculation of the new Polio vaccine, developed by Dr. Jonas Salk…
elementary students from five suburban schools were the first to be inoculated with the new Salk Polio vaccine
In February 1954, first-, second- and third-grade students from five suburban schools were the first to be inoculated…
John Enders, Thomas Weller, and Frederick Robbins were awarded Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
In 1954, John Franklin Enders and Thomas C. Peebles isolated measles virus from an 11-year-old boy, David Edmonston….
McLaughlin Research Institute was established
In 1954, The McLaughlin Research Institute began with the arrival of Dr. Ernst Eichwald, recruited as a pathologist…
Dr. Mary Carpenter became the first female member of OMRF’s scientific staff
In 1954, Dr. Mary Carpenter became the first female member of Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF) scientific staff…
Linus Carl Pauling was awarded the 1954 Nobel Prize for Chemistry
In 1954, Linus Carl Pauling (B.Sc., Chemical Engineering, Oregon State University, 1922) was awarded the Nobel Prize for…
Dr. Jonas Salk and associates develop a potentially safe injectable vaccine against polio
In 1954, Dr. Jonas Salk and associates develop a potentially safe injectable vaccine against polio given to nearly…
Biology | Diagnostics | Disease | Life Science History | Medical Device | Medicine | Non-Profit Research | Therapeutics
Howard Hughes Medical Institute was founded
On Dec. 17, 1953, Howard Hughes signed documents that created the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, formed with the…
Dr. Jonas Salk initiated the first community-based pilot trial of the polio vaccine in a Pittsburgh suburb
On May 16, 1953, Dr. Jonas Salk initiated the first community-based pilot trial of the Polio vaccine in…
Nature published Watson and Crick’s manuscript describing double helical structure of DNA
On Apr. 25, 1953, Nature published James Watson’s and Francis Crick’s 900-word manuscript describing the double helical structure…
The Federal Security Agency became the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare
On Apr. 11, 1953, the Federal Security Agency (FSA) becomes the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare…
Dr. Jonas Salk reported results of the first 161 subjects inoculated with Polio vaccine
On Mar. 28, 1953, Dr. Jonas Salk and his team published a landmark article in the Journal of…
Harold Urey and Stanley Miller conducted experiments that suggest amino acids arose in the early Earth’s primordial soup
In 1953, American chemists Harold Urey and Stanley Miller reported the production of biomolecules from simple gaseous starting…
Agriculture | Biology | Disease | Life Science History | Medicine | Non-Profit Research | Therapeutics | Veterinary
Betty Delores Stough became the first woman to earn a PhD at the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College (parasitology)
In 1953, Betty Delores Stough became the first woman to earn a Ph.D. at the Virginia Agricultural and…
Biology | Diagnostics | Disease | Life Science History | Medicine | Non-Profit Research | Polio | Therapeutics | Vaccine
The Salk Institute for Biological Studies was founded in La Jolla, California
In 1953, the Salk Institute for Biological Studies was founded in La Jolla, California. For more than a…
Dr. William Hammon published first evidence that antibodies to polio could prevent disease
In Oct. 1952, Dr. William McDowall Hammon of the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health published…
Dr. Jonas Salk began taking blood samples from recently paralyzed polio patients to determine antibody types
On Jun. 12, 1952, Dr. Jonas Salk went to the D. T. Watson Home for Crippled Children (now…
Dr. William Hammon enrolled 15,868 children in Sioux City, Iowa for Polio vaccine trial
In Jun. and Jul. of 1952, Dr. William Hammon continued with his gamma globulin Polio vaccine field trials…
The first edition of “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders” mentioned autism to describe symptoms of schizophrenia before puberty
In 1952, the first edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) was published and…
The summer of 1952 recorded 57,628 cases, the worst polio epidemic in U.S. history
In 1952, the summer of 1952 recorded 57,628 cases, the worst polio epidemic in U.S. history. This added…
Monkey kidney tissue to be the most fertile environment for Polio virus growth
In 1952, Dr. Jonas Salk and his team found monkey kidney tissue to be the most fertile environment…
Boxing champion Sugar Ray Robinson defended his crown in Oklahoma City with $5,000 from proceeds going to OMRF
On Apr. 9, 1951, world boxing middleweight champion Sugar Ray Robinson defended his crown in Oklahoma City by…
Dr. Herman Branson co-authored a paper detailing his discovery of the alpha-helix structure in proteins
In 1951, Dr. Herman Branson co-authored a paper alongside Linus Pauling and Robert Corey, detailing the structure of…
Biology | Diagnostics | Disease | Life Science History | Non-Profit Research | Oncology | Therapeutics
Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation began treating some of the state’s sickest children, most suffering from leukemia, in it’s research hospital
From 1951 to 1976, the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF) treated some of the state’s sickest children, most…
Lewis L. Coriell appointed field director for the Polio Prevention Study
In 1951, Lewis L. Coriell whose history in polio research began during his residency at Children’s Hospital of…
Dr. Jonas Salk and his team began using Enders’ methods to grow poliovirus
In 1951, Dr. Jonas Salk and his team began using Dr. John F. Enders’ methods to grow poliovirus,…
Biology | Diagnostics | Disease | Life Science History | Non-Profit Research | Oncology | Therapeutics
The OMRF research building was dedicated
On Dec. 17, 1950, five thousand Oklahomans attended an Open House for a newly dedicated OMRF research building….
Drs. Edward C Kendall and Philip S Hench at the Mayo Clinic, shared the Nobel Prize in medicine
In 1950, Drs. Edward C. Kendall and Philip S. Hench at the Mayo Clinic, along with Tadeus Reichstein,…