1960 March of Dimes establishes the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California with Dr. Jonas Salk as director.
1960 The first March of Dimes birth defects treatment and evaluation center opens in Columbus, Ohio. By the end of the 1960s, there are over 100 such centers in hospitals throughout the U.S. financed by March of Dimes chapters.
1960 First International Birth Defects Conference, organized by the National Foundation, is held in London, England, attended by scientists of 26 countries. Subsequent International Birth Defects Conferences were held in 1963, 1969, and 1973.
1961 March of Dimes grantee Robert Guthrie develops a simple test to screen newborns for phenylketonuria (PKU), an inherited cause of mental retardation.
1962 March 27, 1962 – The trivalent oral polio vaccine developed by March of Dimes grantee Albert Sabin, MD is licensed for use in the U.S. With the advent of the Salk and Sabin polio vaccines developed through March of Dimes funding, epidemic polio in the U.S. was brought to a complete close by 1979.
1963 October 15, 1963
– The first law for a newborn screening test passes in Massachusetts, thanks to
a key breakthrough by March of Dimes grantee Robert Guthrie, MD who developed a
simple blood test to detect phenylketonuria (PKU), a cause of brain damage and
mental retardation. Dr. Guthrie’s breakthrough with early PKU detection ushered
in an era of state-mandated newborn screening. Massachusetts became the first
state to pass a law making the Guthrie PKU test mandatory, and New York
followed suit with a similar law in 1965. At present, all 50 states require PKU
testing, and the March of Dimes today vigorously continues its advocacy of
newborn screening to include 31 inherited disorders.
1968 March of Dimes grantee Robert A. Good of the University of Minnesota performs the first successful bone marrow transplant for treatment of a birth defect.
1968 March of Dimes grantee Max Delbruck receives Nobel Prize for demonstrating how genes direct normal development and how mutations cause abnormal development.
1969-1970 Dr. Virginia Apgar and the March of Dimes lead a campaign against Rubella, a cause of birth defects if contracted in pregnancy, through a Rubella immunization program
