Register Today: Rolling Out a Vaccine for COVID-19: Present Prospects and Lessons from the Past

Sixty-five years ago, Jonas Salk, with his team of scientists at the University of Pittsburgh and support from the March of Dimes, developed the first safe and effective vaccine against polio. Today, the world faces the COVID-19 pandemic, and as the number of cases and deaths continue to rise, there is an urgent need for a vaccine.

Join a panel of experts as they discuss the new pandemic in light of the old, co-sponsored by Pitt, the Jonas Salk Legacy Foundation, the March of Dimes and the Wilson Center. In the race to meet the challenge of developing a vaccine, it is crucial to reflect on ways we can safely and ethically develop and distribute the COVID-19 vaccine(s) around the world.

Speakers include:

• Peter Salk, president of the Jonas Salk Legacy Foundation and professor of infectious diseases and microbiology at Pitt
• Paul Duprex, director of Pitt’s Center for Vaccine Research and professor of microbiology and molecular genetics
• Rahul Gupta, senior vice president and chief medical and health officer, and interim chief scientific officer for research and global programs at the March of Dimes
• Ruth Karron, professor of international health at Johns Hopkins University
• Lisa Waddell, chief medical officer and COVID-19 emergency response at the CDC Foundation
• Anantha Shekhar, Pitt’s senior vice chancellor for the health sciences and John and Gertrude Petersen Dean of the School of Medicine

The event is free and open to the public. Attendees must register at the Wilson Center website.