1949

The first polio vaccine

Thomas Weller, MD, and his boss, the great virologist, John Enders, PhD, were experimenting with chicken pox when Weller added poliovirus to a few flasks of leftover culture medium. Never has an afterthought done more for humanity. The poiliovirus poliovirus grew, opening the door for the development of polio vaccines. The discovery earned Weller, Enders and their colleague Frederick Robbins, MD, the Nobel Prize, and led to an explosion of vaccine development.

1959

Saving premature babies

Mary Ellen Avery, MD, realized that preemies' immature lungs lacked surfactant, a foamy material that lowers the surface tension of the lungs' air sacs, enabling them to inflate again after exhaling. She helped identify the components of surfactant, the cells that produce it and when it develops in the fetal lung. She also inspired the research that turned her discovery into a treatment. Millions of premature babies now thrive, thanks to Avery.

1963

The first measles vaccine

John Enders, PhD, tasked a young associate with isolating the virus that causes measles. For weeks, Thomas Peebles collected blood samples from sick students at a private boys' school near Boston. He told each, "Young man, you are standing on the frontiers of science." The strain of measles Peebles ultimately isolated is named for the boy whose blood provided the virus, David Edmonston. It is still used in measles vaccines worldwide.

1983

The first effective sickle cell treatment

As a kid, Claudia De Pass spent more time in the hospital than at school due to sickle cell disease. But then hydroxyurea, a blood cancer drug advocated by Chief of Hematology and Oncology David Nathan, MD, changed her life—and the lives of patients around the world. Today, gene therapy may cure sickle cell for good. The FDA approved Casgevy, a CRISPR-based approach with deep scientific roots at Boston Children’s. And another method, using gene transfer to boost fetal hemoglobin, is currently in a multi-center trial.

2001

The first fetal correction for HLHS

Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) leaves infants with one pumping chamber and a lifetime of limitations. So when Jennifer and Henry's baby was diagnosed prenatally with that condition, they contacted Wayne Tworetzky, MD, director of the Fetal Cardiology Program. Tworetzky proposed a daring solution: Correct the defect in utero. Jack was born with a healthy heart. His was the first successful fetal correction of HLHS. He now surfs and plays baseball, just like any other teenager.

Today

We are finding breakthroughs for rare disease, immune deficiency, hearing loss and thousands of other conditions, thanks to generous donors.