David Bodian’s Contribution to the Development of Poliovirus Vaccine

Extract

Received for publication September 22, 2004; accepted for publication October 18, 2004.

David Bodian spent almost his whole scientific career (1942–1983) at the Johns Hopkins University, first in the Department of Epidemiology at the School of Hygiene and Public Health and then in the Department of Anatomy at the School of Medicine. Arguably, his most important research contribution was the elucidation of the pathogenesis of poliomyelitis—a contribution that played a major role in the development of inactivated poliovirus vaccine (Salk vaccine), the first successful vaccine against poliomyelitis. In this historical review, I have chosen to focus on those aspects of Bodian’s research that were relevant to vaccine development. This retelling of the story is necessarily biased, since it emphasizes the work of one investigator while acknowledging that less attention is paid to the work of many others who made important contributions. In addition, I distort history somewhat by presenting the research results in an apparently logical sequence, while in truth the story more resembled a jigsaw puzzle put together somewhat randomly to reveal an orderly whole when completed. Furthermore, I have deliberately chosen some examples from my own collaborations with David Bodian, even though the experiments were performed after 1955. Finally, as Dave Bodian’s last trainee in virology, I write this with fond memories of an inspiring role model.