Salk Institute for Biological Studies

History

Jonas Salk, inventor of the polio vaccine, establishes a private, not-for-profit institution of scientific research in La Jolla, California – the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. In 1960, having secured a $20 million grant from the National Science Foundation, and additional support from the March of Dimes, Salk accepts an invitation from the city of San Diego to move onto seventy prime acres overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Research at the Institute gets underway in 1963.

In 1967, a new laboratory facility designed by architect Louis Kahn is dedicated. The building has been hailed widely as a masterpiece of modern architecture.

Today, most Salk researchers conduct basic inquiries in molecular biology and genetics. The institute has also become known as a leading center for the study of the brain. Although Salk himself declined to patent his polio vaccine, his institute actively pursues opportunities to license intellectual properties and transfer technologies to industry for further development. Salk technologies have formed the basis of some of San Diego’s largest biotech companies.

Source: Life Sciences Foundation

Website: http://www.salk.edu