The Polio Vaccine Building on the work of other scientists, Dr. Jonas Salk, a researcher at the University of Michigan and the University of Pittsburgh, was the first to develop a successful polio vaccine. In this 1954 photo, he injects a boy during the trials that established the drug’s success. Salk became a national hero when the vaccine became available to millions of children in 1955. AP Photo/National Foundation March of Dimes.