The Polio Vaccine Developer term refers to three individuals who have made significant contributions to the development of the polio vaccine. Jonas Salk was an American medical researcher and virologist who developed the first successful inactivated polio vaccine in 1955. Albert Sabin was a Polish-American medical researcher who developed the oral live-virus vaccine in 1961. Finally, John Enders was an American biomedical scientist who developed the first effective vaccine against the poliovirus in 1949.