Harry M. Weaver

Weaver was a member of the Jury of the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation for the 1957 Lasker Award.

The polio vaccine was discovered and developed by Jonas Salk between 1952 and 1955. Weaver, acting as the Director of Research at the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, now known as the March of Dimes, from 1946 to 1953, supported Salk's work with a sense of urgency for the development of the Polio vaccine. Weaver's urgency for developing a vaccine as quickly as possible was somewhat counter to the development of the Oral polio vaccine by Albert Sabin between 1954 and 1961. However, his support of Salk's vaccine was considered to be paramount to the early end of the polio epidemic. Weaver dedicated his time and research into finding the main source of polio in order to develop a vaccine that would put an end to the disease. He planned out a way to get grants and broke it down into simple formula of how funding would work. His success was due to his organized approach to funding and his use of applied science to address the challenge.

Harry M. Weaver (March 20, 1909 – September 12, 1977) was an American neuroscientist and researcher who made contributions to medical research in the fields of Multiple sclerosis, and was the Director of Research at the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis when the Polio vaccine was discovered and developed by Jonas Salk. Dr. Weaver also served as the Vice President for Research at the American Cancer Society, Vice President for Research and Development at the Schering Corporation, and as the Director of Research at the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Weaver was born in Lancaster, Ohio in 1909 and died at his home in San Clemente, California, age 68.