[back] Polio and DDT  March of Dimes

The National Foundation For Infantile Paralysis (NFIP) used the "The March Of Dimes" to fund its polio research which lead to the Salk vaccine field trials in 1954. The Director Of Polio Research was Dr. Henry Kumm.

According to the brief sketch in American Journal of Digestive Diseases, May 1953, Dr. Kumm was born in Wiesbaden, Germany. He came to the U.S. via Britain and became an American citizen in 1945. He had spent 23 years on the staff of the Rockefeller Foundation for Medical Research before joining the NFIP in July, 1951.

In May 1953, Dr. Kumm replaced Dr. Harry M. Weaver as Director Of Polio Research at NFIP.

During World War II he had served as civilian consultant to the Surgeon General of the U.S. Army in Italy, directing field studies for the use of DDT against malarial mosquitoes in the marshes near Rome and Naples.

This appears to be a conflict of interest for this key player in polio research. http://www.geocities.com/harpub/pol_all.htm

See: Thomas M. Rivers,