MSN: Who created the polio vaccine?

New generation discovering UC virologist Albert Sabin's work — the polio vaccine

The COVID-19 era is casting light back more than a half century to the time when former University of Cincinnati virologist Albert Sabin developed the live oral polio vaccine. Recent worldwide media coverage, including the latest from MSN, is highlighting the health care hero's work. 

"By 1963, Sabin had created an oral live-virus vaccine for all three types of poliovirus that was approved for use by the U.S. government," states the MSN story. "Sabin's version was cheaper and easier to produce than the Salk vaccine, and it quickly supplanted the Salk vaccine in the U.S."

In 1972, Sabin donated his vaccine strains to the World Health Organization (WHO), which greatly increased the vaccine's availability in low-income countries.

 

Read the complete MSN article
Read New York Times article

Impact Lives Here

The University of Cincinnati is leading public urban universities into a new era of innovation and impact. Our faculty, staff and students are saving lives, changing outcomes and bending the future in our city's direction. Next Lives Here.

Stay up on all UC's COVID-19 stories, read more #UCtheGood content, or take a UC virtual visit and begin picturing yourself at an institution that inspires incredible stories. 

Related Stories

1

Can you grow new brain cells?

March 6, 2026

As National Geographic recently reported, a pair of new studies have provided fresh evidence in the long-running scientific debate on if adults can grow new brain cells. The result could be game-changing for treating diseases such as Alzheimer’s and dementia.

2

Using GLP-1s for weight loss, maintenance after bariatric surgery

March 5, 2026

Bariatric surgery has become a cornerstone treatment for severe obesity and its related comorbidities, offering superior long-term efficacy compared with lifestyle and pharmacologic interventions alone. Yet persistent clinical gaps remain in a subset of patients, including insufficient weight loss and postoperative weight regain.

3

UC marketing class featured in Super Bowl Ad Meter School Spotlight

March 4, 2026

University of Cincinnati’s Lindner College of Business was one of just 16 institutions representing USA Today’s Ad Meter School Spotlight program, where students got to evaluate the ads and publish their findings alongside industry professionals. The students' top-rated commercials largely aligned with Ad Meter’s official rankings, with Budweiser's "American Icons" earning the highest score. The participants included over 300 students across two marketing classes taught by assistant professor-educator Summer Shelton. She came to the University from a marketing research firm and brings experience ranking Super Bowl commercials as an industry professional herself.