Albert Bruce Sabin ( SAY-bin; born Abram Saperstejn; August 26, 1906 – March 3, 1993) was a distinguished Polish-American medical scientist, widely recognized for his pivotal role in the creation of the oral polio vaccine, an intervention instrumental in the near eradication of poliomyelitis. From 1969 to 1972, he held the presidency of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel.
Albert Bruce Sabin ( SAY-bin; born Abram Saperstejn; August 26, 1906 – March 3, 1993) was a Polish-American medical researcher, best known for developing the oral polio vaccine, which has played a key role in nearly eradicating the disease. In 1969–1972, he served as the president of the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel.
Biographical Information
Abram Saperstejn was born in Białystok, then part of the Russian Empire and later Poland (from 1918), to Jacob Saperstejn and Tillie Krugman, who were Polish-Jewish. In 1921, his family emigrated aboard the SS Lapland, traveling from Antwerp to the Port of New York. He obtained naturalized United States citizenship in 1930, at which point he adopted the name Albert Bruce Sabin. His secondary education was completed in Paterson, New Jersey.
Initially enrolling in a dentistry program, Sabin subsequently shifted his academic focus to virology. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in 1928, followed by a medical degree in 1931, both from New York University.
In 1983, Sabin experienced calcification of the cervical spine, a condition that resulted in paralysis and severe pain. He publicly stated in a television interview that this personal ordeal motivated his commitment to dedicating his remaining life to pain alleviation research. The condition was effectively managed through surgery performed at Johns Hopkins Hospital in 1992, when Sabin was 86 years old. He passed away in Washington, D.C., from heart failure one year later.
Professional Medical Career
From 1931 to 1933, Sabin completed his training in internal medicine, pathology, and surgery at Bellevue Hospital in New York City. In 1934, his research endeavors led him to The Lister Institute for Preventive Medicine in England, after which he became affiliated with the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, presently known as Rockefeller University. This period marked the development of his profound interest in scientific inquiry, particularly within the field of infectious diseases.
In 1939, Sabin relocated to Cincinnati Children's Hospital in Cincinnati, Ohio. During World War II, he served as a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Medical Corps, contributing to the development of a vaccine for Japanese encephalitis. By 1946, while maintaining his affiliation with Children's Hospital, he also assumed the leadership of Pediatric Research at the University of Cincinnati. At Cincinnati Children's Hospital, he mentored Robert M. Chanock during his fellowship, referring to him as his "star scientific son".
In 1967, Sabin undertook a fact-finding mission to Cuba, engaging with Cuban officials to explore the potential for establishing a collaborative relationship between the United States and Cuba via their national academies of sciences, despite the absence of formal diplomatic relations between the two nations.
From 1969 to 1972, he resided in Israel, holding the position of president at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot. Following his return to the United States, he served as a research professor at the Medical University of South Carolina from 1974 to 1982. Subsequently, he relocated to the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area, where he held a resident scholar position at the John E. Fogarty International Center, situated on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland.
Poliomyelitis Research
As the threat of poliomyelitis intensified, Sabin, alongside other prominent researchers such as Jonas Salk in Pittsburgh and Hilary Koprowski and H. R. Cox in New York City and Philadelphia, respectively, pursued the development of a vaccine to prevent or alleviate the disease. This endeavor was complicated by the existence of multiple viral strains. In 1951, the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis's typing program definitively identified three primary serotypes of poliovirus, subsequently designated as type 1, type 2, and type 3.
Salk developed an inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV), an injectable, non-replicating vaccine, which became available for public use in 1955. While effective in averting the majority of polio's severe complications, this vaccine did not prevent the initial intestinal infection.
Through post-mortem examinations of individuals afflicted with polio, Sabin demonstrated that the poliovirus replicated and targeted the intestines prior to its dissemination to the central nervous system. This finding also indicated the feasibility of cultivating the poliovirus in tissues other than embryonic brain tissue, thereby facilitating simpler and more cost-effective vaccine development methodologies. In 1949, John Enders, Thomas Huckle Weller, and Frederick Robbins successfully propagated poliovirus in laboratory cultures of non-neural tissue, an accomplishment for which they were awarded the 1954 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Sabin developed an oral vaccine utilizing mutant poliovirus strains, which were observed to induce antibody production without causing paralysis. He personally, along with his family and colleagues, received doses of this live attenuated oral vaccine. The initial clinical trials for Sabin's vaccine commenced in late 1954 at the Chillicothe Ohio Reformatory. Between 1956 and 1960, he collaborated with Russian researchers to refine the oral vaccine and establish its exceptional efficacy and safety. The Sabin vaccine functioned by preventing the poliovirus from entering the bloodstream through its action within the intestines.
From 1955 to 1961, the oral vaccine underwent testing on a minimum of 100 million individuals across the USSR, various Eastern European regions, Singapore, Mexico, and the Netherlands. Soviet scientist Mikhail Chumakov orchestrated the initial industrial production and widespread deployment of oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) derived from Sabin's strains. This initiative critically facilitated extensive clinical trials of OPV in the United States, beginning in April 1960 with 180,000 schoolchildren in Cincinnati. The mass immunization methodologies developed by Sabin and his collaborators successfully eliminated polio within Cincinnati. Despite substantial opposition from the March of Dimes Foundation, which advocated for Salk's comparatively effective inactivated vaccine, Sabin ultimately persuaded the Public Health Service (PHS) to approve his three vaccine strains. During the PHS's delay, the USSR dispatched millions of oral vaccine doses to regions experiencing polio epidemics, including Japan.
Sabin's initial oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV), targeting type 1 polioviruses, received licensure in the United States in 1961. Subsequently, his vaccines for type 2 and type 3 polioviruses obtained licensure in 1962.
Initially, monovalent poliovirus vaccines were co-administered on a sugar cube due to the oral polio vaccine's bitter and salty flavor, a characteristic that notably influenced Robert B. Sherman's lyrics for A Spoonful of Sugar (Helps the Medicine Go Down) in the 1964 film Mary Poppins. By 1964, a singular trivalent OPV, encompassing all three viral serotypes, gained approval. Sabin's oral vaccine offered advantages over Salk's 1954 vaccine, being simpler to administer and providing more prolonged immunity. For three decades, the Sabin vaccine served as the primary method for polio vaccination in the United States. Its implementation effectively disrupted the virus's transmission chain, thereby introducing the potential for eventual polio eradication.
Beyond polio, Sabin also formulated vaccines targeting other viral pathogens, such as those causing encephalitis and dengue fever. Furthermore, his research explored potential correlations between viruses and specific oncological conditions.
Philanthropy
Sabin deliberately chose not to patent his vaccine, thereby foregoing commercial exploitation by pharmaceutical companies to ensure its widespread accessibility through affordability. He derived no personal financial gain from the vaccine's development, sustaining himself solely on his professorial salary. The Sabin Vaccine Institute was established in 1993 to perpetuate his efforts in vaccine development and advocacy. In honor of Sabin's foundational contributions, the institute bestows the Albert B. Sabin Gold Medal annually, recognizing significant achievements in vaccinology or related disciplines.
Awards and recognition
- In recognition of his trivalent oral vaccine, which incorporated attenuated strains of all three poliovirus types, the President of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR conferred upon him the Order of Friendship Among Peoples (1986), the nation's highest civilian honor.
- Induction into the Polio Hall of Fame, dedicated on January 2, 1958, in Warm Springs, Georgia.
- Howard Taylor Ricketts Prize (1959)
- Robert Koch Prize (1962)
- Feltrinelli Prize (1964)
- Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award (1965)
- Walter Reed Medal, The American Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene (1969)
- National Medal of Science (1970)
- Medal of Liberty (1986)
- Presidential Medal of Freedom (1986)
- The Cincinnati Convention Center bore Sabin's name from 1985 until 2006.
- In 1999, the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center dedicated its newly constructed education and conference center in Sabin's honor.
- On April 28, 2000, the thoroughfare situated between the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center was officially redesignated as Albert Sabin Way.
- The U.S. Postal Service released an 87-cent postage stamp featuring his likeness on March 6, 2006, as part of its Distinguished Americans series.
- During early 2010, the Ohio Historical Society nominated Sabin as a finalist in a statewide ballot for potential induction into Statuary Hall within the United States Capitol.
- The Capitol Square Foundation recognized Albert Sabin as a "Great Ohioan" in 2012.
A comprehensive list of notable individuals of Polish descent.
- List of Poles
Academic References
- Explanatory Notes
- Selected Bibliography
- Saldías G, Ernesto (December 2006). "Centenary of Albert B. Sabin MD birthdate". Chilean Journal of Infectology. 23 (4): 368–9. doi:10.4067/S0716-10182006000400013. PMID 17186087.Smith, Derek R; Leggat Peter A (2005). "Pioneering figures in medicine: Albert Bruce Sabin--inventor of the oral polio vaccine". The Kurume Medical Journal. 52 (3): 111–6. doi:10.2739/kurumemedj.52.111. PMID 16422178.Emed, A (April 2000). "[Albert B Sabin (1906-1993)]". Harefuah (The Medicine). 138 (8): 702–3. PMID 10883218.Chanock, R M (March 1996). "Reminiscences of Albert Sabin and his successful strategy for the development of the live oral poliovirus vaccine". Proceedings of the Association of American Physicians. 108 (2): 117–26. PMID 8705731.Dalakas, M C (May 1995). "Opening remarks. On post-polio syndrome and in honor of Dr. Albert B. Sabin". Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences. 753: xi–xiv. PMID 7611615.Beumer, J (1994). "[Academic eulogy of Professor Albert Bruce Sabin, foreign honorary member]". Bulletin and Memoirs of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium. 149 (5–7): 220–4. PMID 7795544.Horaud, F (December 1993). "Albert B. Sabin and the development of oral poliovaccine". Biologicals. 21 (4): 311–6. doi:10.1006/biol.1993.1089. PMID 8024745.Melnick, J L; Horaud F (December 1993). "Albert B. Sabin". Biologicals. 21 (4): 297–303. doi:10.1006/biol.1993.1087. PMID 8024743."Homage to Albert Sabin". Biologicals. 21 (4): 295–384. December 1993. doi:10.1006/biol.1993.1087. PMID 8024742.Newsom, B (June 1993). "In memoriam: Albert B. Sabin, M.D., 1906-1993". Journal of the South Carolina Medical Association (1975). 89 (6): 311. PMID 8320975.Grouse, L D (April 1993). "Albert Bruce Sabin". JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association). 269 (16): 2140. doi:10.1001/jama.269.16.2140. PMID 8468772.Koprowski, H (April 1993). "Albert B. Sabin (1906-1993)". Nature. 362 (6420): 499. Bibcode:1993Natur.362..499K. doi:10.1038/362499a0. PMID 8464487. S2CID 706753.Sabin, A B; Ramos-Alvarez M; Alvarez-Amezquita J; Pelon W; Michaels R H; Spigland I; Koch M A; Barnes J M; Rhim J S (June 1984). "Landmark article Aug 6, 1960: Live, orally given poliovirus vaccine. Effects of rapid mass immunization on population under conditions of massive enteric infection with other viruses. By Albert B. Sabin, Manuel Ramos-Alvarez, José Alvarez-Amezquita, William Pelon, Richard H. Michaels, Ilya Spigland, Meinrad A. Koch, Joan M. Barnes, and Johng S. Rhim". JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association). 251 (22): 2988–93. doi:10.1001/jama.251.22.2988. PMID 6371279.Benison, S (1982). "International medical cooperation: Dr. Albert Sabin, live poliovirus vaccine and the Soviets". Bulletin of the History of Medicine. 56 (4): 460–83. PMID 6760938.Dixon, B (December 1977). "Medicine and the media: polio still paralyses (Albert Sabin, Jonas Salk)". British Journal of Hospital Medicine. 18 (6): 595. PMID 342023.Draffin, R W (January 1977). "Citation for Dr. Albert B. Sabin of Charleston, S.C. on presentation of Honorary Fellowship 1976". The Journal of the American College of Dentists. 44 (1): 28–30. PMID 320241.Matysiak, Angela (July 1, 2005). "The Myth of Jonas Salk: It was Albert Sabin’s vaccine, not Salk’s, that truly defeated polio." MIT Technology Review.
- The Myth of Jonas Salk: It was Albert Sabin’s vaccine, not Salk’s, that truly defeated polio. By Angela Matysiak July 1, 2005 MIT Technology Review
- Archival Collections of His Papers
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center: Dr. Albert Sabin's Discovery of the Oral Polio Vaccine.
- Dr. Albert Sabin's Discovery of the Oral Polio Vaccine, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
- The New York Times Obituary, March 4, 1993.
- Official Website of the Sabin Vaccine Institute.
- University of Cincinnati: Hauck Center for the Albert B. Sabin Archives.
- The Albert B. Sabin Digitization Project Blog, University of Cincinnati.
- The Albert B. Sabin Archives Digital Collection, University of Cincinnati.
- The Finding Aid for the Albert B. Sabin Papers, University of Cincinnati.