Julius Youngner

Julius S. Youngner (24 October 1920 – 27 April 2017) was an American Distinguished Service Professor in the School of Medicine and Department of Microbiology & Molecular Genetics at University of Pittsburgh responsible for advances necessary for development of a vaccine for poliomyelitis and the first intranasal equine influenza vaccine.

Youngner survived many infections as a young child which left him with a lifelong interest in infectious disease. After completing an undergraduate degree in English, he was trained in Biology at University of Michigan before being drafted into the Army. After the war, he joined the U.S. Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health Cancer Institute before joining the Salk team responsible for polio vaccine.

As a member of the Jonas Salk research team, Youngner contributed in the development of polio vaccine, including techniques for large scale production of poliovirus and the rapid color test measurement of polio virus in living tissue. He is considered "one of the seminal figures in contemporary virology and it's been that way for more than 50 years" by Arthur S. Levine, senior vice chancellor for the health sciences at University of Pittsburgh. Research by Youngner and colleague Samuel Salvin was also responsible for the discovery of gamma interferon.

Youngner was an important early pioneer in vaccine development, testing, and government licensing of drugs before allowing them to market. He was critical of Cutter Laboratories virus manufacturing prior to deaths resulting from Cutter inactivated vaccine. He continued to promote research integrity and actions on misconduct until the end of his career.