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Albert Sabin

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Doctor

The Resume

    (August 26, 1906-March 3, 1993)
    Born in Bialystok, Poland
    Birth name was Albert Saperstein
    Developed the oral polio vaccine (1957)
    Received the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1986)

Why he might be annoying:

    Because an uncle who was a dentist offered to pay for college if he joined the field, he studied dentistry for three years until he 'couldn't stand it any longer.'
    Even though his vaccine ended up being the preferred one, he was overshadowed by Jonas Salk.
    He bitterly claimed 'Salk didn't discover anything' and called Salk's killed-virus vaccine 'pure kitchen chemistry.'
    When about one in a million children inoculated with the oral vaccine developed polio, he refused to admit his vaccine was responsible, with one colleague saying, 'He was so strong-willed he thought he could will it away.'

Why he might not be annoying:

    When he was 15, his family left Russia-occupied Poland to escape anti-Semitism.
    He joined the Army Medical Corps during World War II and developed vaccines for dengue fever and Japanese encephalitis.
    Since his vaccine did not require needles or booster shots, it was particularly suited for anti-polio campaigns in Third World countries.
    A World Health Organization campaign using his and Salk's vaccines reduced the number of polio cases worldwide from 350,000 in 1988 to 1,315 in 2007.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2021, Out of 15 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 82 Votes: 43.90% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 21 Votes: 52.38% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 14 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 22 Votes: 54.55% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 16 Votes: 56.25% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 64 Votes: 37.50% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 190 Votes: 53.68% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 23 Votes: 43.48% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 30 Votes: 36.67% Annoying