Taking a Shot at Changing the World

Pitt's School of Pharmacy and Steeltown Entertainment Project showcased a number of videos that are part of "Take a Shot at Changing the World," a competition involving the region's middle-school and high-school students. Launched a year ago, the competition invited students to create videos connecting the collective effort that fostered the development of the Salk polio vaccine by a team of Pitt researchers in the 1950s to current efforts to eradicate polio from the planet. During this April 3 event in the Pitt pharmacy school in Salk Hall, the students met Peter Salk (seated, first on right), a son of Jonas Salk and a featured interviewee in the documentary The Shot Felt 'Round the World, which received its world-premiere screening in April 2010 at an Oakland event cohosted by Pitt Chancellor Mark A. Nordenberg and Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs Robert Hill. Also present at this year's April 3 event was Sidney Busis (seated, second on right), a doctor who treated children with polio prior to the vaccine and who was also an interviewee in The Shot Felt 'Round the World, and School of Pharmacy Dean Patricia Kroboth (not pictured). The 2010 documentary was produced by Pitt Film Studies Program faculty member Carl Kurlander (standing on right). Rachel Shepherd (seated on left) is the competition's project coordinator.