ABOUT AUTHORS

About Karen Torghele

  • University of Cincinnati Hauck Center Albert Sabin Resident Scholar 2019-2020
  • Commissioned to lecture at University of Cincinnati twice about Albert Sabin
  • Member of Biographers International
  • Oral Historian for Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  • Informatician at the Task Force for Global Health
  • Epidemiologist at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Emory University
  • Coordinator of The CDC Experience for medical students

Primary author, Karen Torghele, M.P.H.

Virology Author, Larry J. Anderson, M.D.

About Dr. Larry J. Anderson

  • Medical degree from Harvard University School of Medicine
  • Board Certified in Infectious Diseases
  • 33-year career with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 25 of them as Chief of Respiratory and Enteroviruses (including polio)
  • Marcus Chair of Pediatric Infectious Disease at Emory University 2010-present
  • Published over 275 peer-reviewed articles and 70 book chapters related to viral diseases
  • Fellow in American Association for the Advancement of Science
  • Recipient of C.D.C.’s William C. Watson Medal of Excellence and the Charles Shepherd Lifetime Achievement Award

How Did The Sabin Biography Get Started ?

I had the privilege of interviewing 80 scientists and luminaries to document their stories. for the David J. Sencer CDC Museum Global Health Chronicles Oral History of Polio Project. In doing research to prepare for the interviews, I was surprised to find that there was no biography of Albert Sabin, developer of the oral polio vaccine. But I found that when I asked interviewees if they had known Sabin, people who knew him didn’t have to tell me—it was revealed first in their facial expressions and coloring. Then hands might run through hair or cover a smile as they remembered their Sabin encounters or stories from others about him. One scientist showed me a copy of the 40-year-old manuscript with red hand-written comments Sabin used to tear apart the paper he wrote. But each recounted Sabin experience ended with admiration of his scientific excellence along with what the researchers learned from him and passed on to others. The stories making up Sabin’s unique life journey and the scientific principles by which he lived are worth preserving for present and future generations. Five years ago with the help of scores of others, I began.