Draft:Elsie N. Ward
Dr. Elsie N. Ward was a microbiologist who contributed to the development of a polio vaccine through her work in Jonas Salk's Virus Research Laboratory at the University of Pittsburgh. Ward's role was to grow poliovirus in monkey tissues.[1]
In a 1952 experiment, Ward cared for and assessed the test tubes containing monkey cells mixed with live poliovirus and blood from vaccinated individuals.[2] Acid-sensitive red dye was added to the tubes to demonstrate the success of the vaccine. A color change from red to yellow indicated the presence of healthy cells in the test tube, and thus that the vaccine had produced antibodies in sufficient, protective amounts.[2] Ward discovered that the experiment was successful when she entered the lab early one morning in mid-September 1952 and saw the yellow dye within the tubes at her station.[2]
Salk's lab went on to reproduce the results, and in 1955, Thomas Francis announced to scientists and reporters at the University of Michigan that the lab had developed a safe and effective polio vaccine.[3] At that announcement, which Elsie Ward attended, Salk thanked some individuals but none of his team members at the Virus Research Laboratory.[4] In a later interview, Salk credited Ward along with four other scientists from the lab for their work.[4] Ward was the only woman he acknowledged, though many women worked for or contributed to the lab, including Ward's assistants Ethel Bailey and Louise Boccella.[4]
External links[edit]
Photograph, "Elsie Ward ca. 1954-1955," University Archives, the University of Pittsburgh: https://documenting.pitt.edu/islandora/object/pitt%3Asalk0044
References[edit]
- ^ "The Networks of Women Behind the Polio Vaccine". Lady Science. 2020-09-17. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
- ^ a b c Magazine, Smithsonian. "Conquering Polio". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
- ^ "1955 Polio Vaccine Trial Announcement | University of Michigan School of Public Health". sph.umich.edu. Retrieved 2024-03-27.
- ^ a b c Kerlin, Julie (2020-09-01). "The Women of the Virus Research Laboratory: The Hidden History of the Salk Vaccine through the Women who worked with Dr. Jonas Salk in Pittsburgh, PA from 1947 to 1955". The Macksey Journal. 1 (1).