Our History

In 1921 Albert Sabin, who was born in 1906, left Poland with his family. He became a United States citizen in 1930 and in 1931 he received his medical degree from New York University.  In 1939 he joined the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital where he published numerous scientific papers that included work on pneumonia, encephalitis and many other diseases.  His passion, however, was poliomyelitis. After World War II, he concentrated on poliomyelitis.  Eventually, he discovered his oral “live” vaccine.  In 1957 the World Health Organization approved his vaccine for worldwide testing.  However, in the United States Dr. Sabin was competing with Dr. Jonas Salk who had developed a “killed” vaccine method for poliomyelitis. By 1960, 800 million people outside of the United States had already been vaccinated with the Sabin oral vaccine.  The U.S. Public Health Service finally approved testing of the Sabin vaccine.  Dr. Sabin’s discovery has been hailed as one of the medical science’s greatest successes of the Twentieth Century. 

Middlesex County Medical Society Foundation, a not for profit organization, was founded in 1964.  There were four inspiring developments in the health care field that led to the development of the foundation: 

• Dr. Sabin’s development of the first oral poliomyelitis vaccine 
• “Sabin Sunday”, April 24, 1960, the date of the first test of the vaccine in the United States—on that day, in Cincinnati, Ohio, 20,000 children received the Sabin oral vaccine. 
• The willingness of the Pharmaceutical Industry to make the vaccine available to everyone at a reasonable cost 
• The organization of “Polio Eradication Sundays” with the voluntary cooperation of the physicians, pharmacists, and nurses of Middlesex County, New Jersey, working alongside community volunteers to administer the vaccine in schools, churches, and other public buildings throughout Middlesex County 

In 1964 “Polio Eradication Sundays” were held.  This was a monumental effort that resulted in a highly successful attack on the polio virus.  The polio vaccine was donated by the Pfizer Laboratories which also provided a small “procedure manual” covering the development and administration of a network to provide the vaccines. To cover administrative costs, those who were able to pay were asked to donate a small fee of 50 cents.  Many contributed more.  No one was turned away.  Through this program many residents of Middlesex County were protected from the dreaded disease. 

After all of the expenses for the “Polio Eradication Sundays” had been paid, there was a surplus of $80,000.  It was decided to use the surplus to form an independent not for profit organization, Middlesex County Medical Society Foundation. The primary mission of the foundation was to invest the surplus, the dividends and interest of which would be used to provide scholarships to deserving, needy medical, pharmacy, and nursing students from Middlesex County, NJ.  The foundation was incorporated in 1964 and subsequently awarded scholarships annually.