POLIO VACCINE DEVELOPER KOPROWSKI DIES A pioneering scientist who developed a polio vaccine used two years before

Jonas Salks injectable version has died. Dr. Hilary Koprowski was 96. Dr. Koprowski developed an oral vaccine using the live polio virus that was first used on humans in 1950. Dr. Koprowskis son Christopher said his fathers vaccine was the first to show clinical success. Salk famously developed an injectable version later, while Dr. Albert Sabin was the first to have an oral vaccine licensed in the U.S. But Christopher Koprowski said his father was happy with the scientific recognition he received without the celebrity of his better-known fellow researchers.

About Dr Hilary Koprowski

Dr Hilary Koprowski was born on 5 December 1916. He was a Polish virologist and immunologist and was known for developing the first effective polio vaccine. Hilary Koprowski remained the President of Biotechnology Foundation Laboratories, Inc. as well as the Head of the Center for Neurovirology at Thomas Jefferson University. In 2006, he was conferred with the record 50th grant from the National Institutes of Health. He remained the author or co-author of more than 875 scientific papers. He also served as the consultant to the World Health Organization and also Pan American Health Organization. He received Philadelphia Cancer Research Award and the John Scott Award in Philadelphia. In May 1990, he received the Philadelphia Award, which is the most prestigious honour of Philadelphia. In 1959, he was conferred with the Alvarenga Prize by the College of Physicians of Philadelphia. In 1995, Hilary Koprowski was given the title of Commander of the Order of the Lion of Finland by the President of Finland. In 1997, he won the Legion d'Honneur from the French government. In 1998, he won the Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of Poland. In 2007, he was conferred with the Albert Sabin Gold Medal by the Sabin Vaccine Institute in Baltimore.