Karen Torghele in conversation with Roger Glass | Albert Sabin: The Life of a Polio Vaccine Pioneer

The untold story of Albert Sabin, who developed the oral polio vaccine and became a controversial public health advocate for children worldwide.
A Cappella Books is welcomes epidemiologist and historian Karen Torghele to the Jimmy Carter Presidential Library to celebrate the release of her new book “Albert Sabin: The Life of a Polio Vaccine Pioneer.” Torghele will appear in conversation with global health expert Roger Glass.
Special Event Schedule: Guests are invited to arrive early for a live string quartet performance from 6:00 to 7:00 PM, accompanied by light hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar. The author conversation and book talk will take place in the theater from 7:00 to 8:00 PM. Following the discussion, the string quartet will perform again at 8 PM during the book signing in the lobby.
This event is free and open to the public. Copies of the book will be available for purchase at the venue.
About the Book
Jonas Salk may be the name most associated with the polio vaccine, but it was Albert Sabin’s oral vaccine that made the goal of global eradication of poliomyelitis a possibility. Epidemiologist Karen Torghele draws on exclusive interviews, archival research, and the scientist’s own lab notebooks to deliver the first definitive biography of Sabin (1906–1993). She reveals a man driven by compulsion, whom Yale virologist John R. Paul described as “a fierce joy” when he was making new discoveries. But though his work reshaped virology and vaccine development, he was burdened by ego and an abrasive personality that would haunt his legacy.
Sabin’s journey spanned continents and conflicts, from being a World War II hero to facilitating Cold War diplomacy, culminating in a risky experiment to test his vaccine in the USSR near the peak of the McCarthy era. Torghele combines biography and science to establish Sabin’s place in medical history, illuminating the research, politics, and private issues behind one of the twentieth century’s most controversial personalities—and offering insight into what we can learn from Sabin’s experiences as we address vaccine misinformation, deal with deadly new viruses, and face the threatening resurgence of vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles, diphtheria, and polio.
About the Author
Karen Torghele is an epidemiologist and Global Health Chronicles oral historian who worked for more than twenty-five years at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Task Force for Global Health. She lives in Atlanta, GA.
About the Conversation Partner