A portrait celebrating a landmark moment of scientific discovery will be unveiled at UMass Medical School on May 29. Chancellor Michael F. Collins and Provost and Dean Terence R. Flotte invite all to join them at the Lamar Soutter Library to view the painting, which is on loan from the Boston Medical Library.
Growing the polio virus for the first time in tissue culture, which enabled the vaccine development, took place in Massachusetts. In 1954, John Enders, PhD, Thomas Weller, MD, and Frederick Robbins, MD, of Harvard Medical School were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery.
"Gateway to the Polio Vaccine" by artist Alan Witschonke captures at a glance the emotion of the three researchers at the moment of discovery, an important and transformative event in medical science, public health and the history of medicine.
UMMS has a strong connection to the painting, as it was commissioned under the auspices of the Boston Medical Library by Leonard Morse, MD, retired professor of medicine, who served as the Commissioner of Public Health for Worcester from 2002 to 2011. In 1963, Dr. Morse spearheaded the initial program for polio vaccination in Worcester with the Worcester District Medical Society.
The unveiling ceremony will be held in the Lamar Soutter Library on Tuesday, May 29 at 3 p.m. A short speaking program will be followed by networking and light hors d'oeuvres.
RSVPs are requested at https://library.umassmed.edu/news-events/gateway-polio-vaccine-event
