The vision worth

a future—a future
worth the vision.
MID-CENTURY TO NEXT CENTURY
90000>
ISBN 978-0-578-32681-8
A WORK OF ART

9 780578 326818
THE WORK
OF SCIENCE.
TO SERVE
—JONAS SALK
THE RE
FOR WO
WELL D
IS
EWARD
ORK
DONE
MID-
CENTURY
TO

NEXT
CENTURY
 M

Every cure has a starting point. The Salk Institute embodies

Jonas Salk’s mission to dare to make dreams into reality. Its
internationally renowned and award-winning scientists explore the
very foundations of life, seeking new understandings in neuroscience,
genetics, immunology, plant biology and more. The Institute is an
independent nonprofit organization and architectural landmark: small
by choice, intimate by nature and fearless in the face of any challenge.
Be it cancer or Alzheimer’s, aging or diabetes, Salk is where cures begin.

Copyright © 2022 The Salk Institute for Biological Studies SALK INSTITUTE FOR BIOLOGICAL STUDIES
10010 N Torrey Pines Rd
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
La Jolla, CA 92037
system, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written
permission of copyright owner(s) and the above publisher of this book, except in www.salk.edu
the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Library of Congress Control Number 2022939631

ISBN 78-0-578-32681-8

Printed in the United States of America

 CENTURY
CENTURY

NEXT
MID-
The vision worth
a future—a future
worth the vision.

TO
contents

09 INTRODUCTION

12 FOREWORD
13
an icon is born
FOUNDATIONS

on the shoulders of
giants

25
BUILDING A LEGACY

science at salk

training future

29
scientists

women & science

transformative
contributions

celebrating the
arts

A CATHEDRAL TO SCIENCE,
symphony at salk

the salk medal AN HOMAGE TO ART

 courtyard

the river of life

117 the labs

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
study towers/
office wings

MASTERPIECE
PROTECTING A
107
east addition

landscape

materials

77
THE INSTITUTE

SALK INTO THE

NEXT CENTURY
113
SITE PLAN
73
 9
INTRODUCTION
“Our greatest responsibility
is to be good ancestors.”
JONAS SALK, the scientific icon known the
world over for developing the first effective polio
vaccine, used basic science to save countless
lives and end the epidemic of polio. Shortly
after receiving global acclaim for his discovery,
Salk shifted his focus to building an institute,
one in which “the top researchers in the world
could explore the basic principles of life and
contemplate the broader implications of their
discoveries for the future of humanity.”
Salk enlisted architect Louis Kahn to design and
build the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, on
the cliffs overlooking the Pacific Ocean, in La Jolla,
California. It was Salk’s choice of Kahn, and their
collaboration in designing the research facility,
which would result in the Institute becoming an icon
of 20th-century modern architecture. Salk’s early
leadership and his assembly of a world-renowned
faculty enlivened Kahn’s buildings and garnered
global acclaim for the Institute. For Kahn and Salk,
their partnership and the Institute they designed
and built would burnish their legacies as scientific
and architectural icons of the 20th century.
Over the past 60 years, the Salk Institute’s
faculty have garnered prestigious accolades and
JONAS SALK
significant financial awards in their pursuit of
bold scientific discoveries. Six Nobel laureates,
multiple winners of the Albert Lasker Award, and
numerous elected members of the American
Academy of Arts and Sciences have called the
Salk Institute home. At the invitation of Salk,
Suzanne Bourgeois and her husband, Mel Cohn,
would join him in San Diego as two of the first
faculty members of the Institute, working in
“temporary” research buildings as they watched
Kahn and Salk construct the Institute. For an
insider’s account of the early years of the Institute,
I encourage you to pick up a copy of Genesis of
the Salk Institute, written by Bourgeois. Both Cohn
and Bourgeois would spend their careers doing
pioneering research at the Institute.
Today, the Institute’s original buildings serve as an
iconic example of modern architecture, earning
widespread recognition for their architectural
significance. Many architects consider the
buildings and grounds Kahn’s architectural
masterwork. But as a fully functioning scientific
research institute, we face unique challenges in
balancing the changing needs of science with
the preservation and protection of the Institute’s
architectural significance. Thousands of people
 10
it aging, cancer, understanding the mysteries of the
mind and body, or pursuing approaches to climate
change, Salk is where cures begin.

In the following pages, we explore the Institute’s

history and relevant scientific and architectural
milestones. We detail the architectural significance
of the Institute’s buildings and grounds, and share
how the Institute embraces the arts to advance its
scientific mission. In creating this homage to the
Institute, we hope to engage a broader community of
supporters in our work to preserve and protect the
Institute as a sacred and vibrant example of 20th-
century architecture and forward-looking science.

louis kahn
Our efforts are designed, in part, to help a new
generation develop an appreciation for Louis Kahn’s
from around the world visit the Institute’s campus architectural legacy and Jonas Salk’s profound
annually to admire the architecture, while critical contributions to science and humankind. If we are
scientific research continues in more than 50 successful, we will have made meaningful progress in
labs. Ensuring that the Institute continues to our goal “to be good ancestors.”
advance its work in a broad range of research
areas is paramount. At the same time, we are
committed to protecting and conserving the
historic buildings and grounds of the Institute for
generations to come.

I am excited about the future of the Salk Institute

and inspired by a new generation of talented
scientists who will continue Salk’s legacy of
finding solutions to the most urgent biological
problems of our lifetime, including cancer,
Alzheimer’s, aging and climate change. We
are expanding our focus to take a holistic and
interdisciplinary approach to understanding
the mechanisms by which nature resists disease
and to protect health. This approach—centered
around resiliency in human and plant biology—
builds on the Institute’s six decades of life-
changing scientific discovery, as scientists evolve
Sincerely,
their methods of improving life as we know it. Just
as Jonas Salk and his acclaimed counterparts
were focused on the challenges of their
generation, today’s Salk Institute scientists are
Rusty Gage, President
focused on the challenges of a new generation. Be
Salk Institute for Biological Studies
 11

I REMEMBER MY FATHER in the years he was conceiving of the Institute, sitting on a

deck chair on the lawn of our summer home in Maryland and looking out at the lake, sky and trees. I recall him
talking about his ideas and his vision. Not yet 12 years old, I didn’t fully understand what he was saying, but I did
feel the rhythm of his voice and vitality of his presence. Many times throughout his life, I saw him in similar pose:
outdoors, deeply inhaling not just the air, but the very essence of nature. Whether it was at a cottage by a lake
showing me the sunset, on an ocean liner crossing the Atlantic or standing on the deck of his home in La Jolla,
that pose reflected his connection to the ebb and flow of life. Louis Kahn, I suspect, had such a connection as
well. He must have had a similar look as he took in the wonder of ancient temples and monasteries set against
the landscapes of Greece or Italy.

Looking back, I realize that image of my father, looking out at the water, trees and sky of rural Maryland
was a foreshadowing of what would, at the Institute, become the experience of every visitor who mounts
those steps, enters through the gates and takes in the unadorned majesty of building and nature.

The collaboration with Louis Kahn in the design of the Institute and seeing its
construction was perhaps the most satisfying and successful undertaking in
my father’s rich and accomplished life. In one respect, it may even exceed the
development of the polio vaccine. Long after polio is eradicated and forgotten
to history, this remarkable edifice, if cared for and maintained, will inspire
scientists, artists and scholars for decades, even centuries, to come.

In the conception of the Institute, Jonas Salk and Louis Kahn drew from the very foundations of life
and, as they so often put it, of the cosmos. They understood that art and science, poetry and research,
philosophy and empirical data come from the same creative source, and it was their explicit intention to
make a place where scientists, artists and scholars could come—not just to work in peace and solitude
but to interact creatively in ways that would benefit humankind. They succeeded. This composition of
concrete, steel and wood framed by earth, sky and sea is like no other place in our modern world.

THEY UNDERSTOOD THAT ART AND SCIENCE, POETRY AND

RESEARCH, PHILOSOPHY AND EMPIRICAL DATA COME FROM
THE SAME CREATIVE SOURCE—
In 2013, the Getty Conservation Institute included the Salk Institute in a selection of 20th-century
masterpieces to protect and conserve. I am deeply grateful to them for the restoration of the
teak windows, which has brought back the building’s original luster; for the plan to restore and
conserve areas where the concrete of the building is deteriorating; and for the creation of a
beautiful, comprehensive Conservation Management Plan for the building and site.

I am also thankful to the Salk Institute for understanding the significance of this wonderful building and for establishing an
Architectural Endowment Fund dedicated to preserving the Institute for future generations. Doing so will serve not only the
buildings themselves but also those who work, study and discover here. The fate of the two—building and human—are inextricably
intertwined, and assuring the welfare of both will synergistically lead to the flourishing of this unique and remarkable institution.

That flourishing will be a gift not only to those who will work and
visit here, but to the vision and memory of the two remarkable
individuals who conceived of it and made it real.

JONATHAN SALK
La Jolla, California
January 2020
 12

FOREWORD
FOUNDA
ATIONS
an icon is born
15
foundations

below / Louis Kahn with Jonas Salk at the

Salk Institute, 1966.

AN ICON IS
Jonas Salk changed humanity and the world
BORN
with his discovery of the first effective
polio vaccine.
//// Salk used basic science—studies of the
fundamental biological processes that underpin life—
to end the devastation caused by polio. In the process,
he helped alter the 20th century, and defined the
future of science, medicine and human health.
//// A few years after the release of his vaccine, Salk
declared his interest in establishing a research institute
to engage in bold, innovative science that could address
humanity’s other pressing challenges. Salk’s dream
to develop a collaborative environment, where “the
top researchers could explore the basic principles
of life and contemplate the wider implications of their
discoveries for the future of humanity,” was realized
when funding for his institute was pledged by the
March of Dimes. Established in 1938 by President
Franklin D. Roosevelt as the National Foundation for
Infantile Paralysis, the March of Dimes had previously
funded Salk’s groundbreaking polio research. The
March of Dimes would go on to be a cornerstone
supporter and funder from the day the Institute opened.
16
an icon is born
foundations
//// In 1962, construction began on the Salk Institute
for Biological Studies, located on 27 acres of land
gifted to Salk by the City of San Diego. Designed by
celebrated architect Louis I. Kahn, one of the most
important American architects of the 20th century,
the Institute represented a meeting of two of the
greatest minds of the time. Salk engaged Kahn to
design the Institute after seeing Kahn’s breakthrough
design of the Richards Medical Research Laboratories
at the University of Pennsylvania.
//// In creating the Salk Institute, the collaboration
between Kahn and Salk would bring their respective
disciplines together in form and function to create
a place that would drive scientific collaboration
and innovation against a backdrop of coastal bluffs,
majestic sea and endless sky.
 17
an icon is born
foundations
from left / Francis Crick,
John Henry Felix and Charles L. Massey
at the Salk Institute in 1994.
A LEGEND SET IN
CONCRETE, TEAK
AND GLASS Salk charged Kahn
with creating large, open and unobstructed
laboratory spaces capable of evolving to
the changing needs of science, while
withstanding the tests of time—all while
being a place “worthy of a visit by Picasso.”
//// To fulfill this vision, Kahn designed two mirror-
image rectangular buildings that flanked a sweeping
central Courtyard bisected by a water feature
running east to west. Kahn’s innovative building design
allows the labs to adapt over time, while the overall
structures retain a monolithic look and feel. An open
floor plan also prompts a deliberately collaborative
environment. No borders separate individual labs
to help encourage scientists to collaborate and
cross-pollinate ideas from different fields
biological research, which can lead to world-
changing discoveries.
//// Salk and Kahn chose long-lasting materials for
the Institute: concrete, teak, lead, glass and steel. In
determining the mix to be used in the concrete, which
is the predominant material of the laboratory complex,
Kahn drew inspiration from ancient Roman materials
to achieve a soft-pink hue that sets the Institute aglow
during sunrise and sunset.
//// While the Institute’s buildings are separate and
unique in their own right, they are unified in mind
and sight by the powerful and inspirational central
courtyard—characterized by architect Luis Barragán
as “a façade to the sky.” Flowing through the middle
of the Courtyard is the “The River of Life” fountain,
a gentle flume that represents the constant flow of
discoveries emerging from the labs into the larger
body of knowledge, symbolized by the Pacific Ocean.
//// When the Institute opened in 1965, Salk had
exhausted his budget, and only one of the two
buildings was equipped and occupied; in fact, both
buildings were not fully utilized until the early 1990s.
As the Institute’s faculty, labs and administrative
staff grew, so did the need for additional scientific,
programmatic and administrative space. Salk took
the lead in shaping the site’s second phase of buildings,
called the East Buildings, before his death.
//// The East Buildings, which opened in 1995,
comprise 110,000 square feet of additional space. They
were built with keen attention to detail, emulating the
designs of and using materials similar to those of the
original buildings. The addition created a courtyard
that now forms the Institute’s new main entrance to
the campus. Upon entering, today’s visitors travel
west, through a brick courtyard and a eucalyptus
of grove, to a landing that sits directly above the famous
Courtyard that is flanked by the teak and concrete
buildings.
//// On the landing is a quote from Salk, inscribed above / Negatives depicting the mix of
materials applied in unison to the study
after his death, which reads: “Hope lies in dreams, in towers during construction.

imagination, and in the courage of those who dare

to make dreams into reality.” From this spot, Kahn’s
design is spectacularly realized with a view that
stretches across the travertine Courtyard and the
water feature to the Pacific Ocean and an expansive
horizon. The beauty of the buildings, plaza and
Courtyard, paired with the world-renowned basic
science research, embodies the intended union of art
and science that Jonas Salk set out to achieve.
 19

OF PIONEERS AND
PRECEDENTS The founding faculty
that would first inhabit the new dynamic
complex were an extraordinary cadre of
scientists whose research would itself continue
to break new ground within Salk and Kahn’s
visionary citadel of discovery.

CLOCKWISE FROM
TOP LEFT

1_URSULA BELLUGI*

2_JACOB BRONOWSKI*

3_SUZANNE BOURGEOIS*

4_SALVADOR LURIA*

5_FRANCIS CRICK*
 20

CLOCKWISE FROM
TOP LEFT

1_LEO SZILARD*

2_MARGUERITE VOGT*

3_MELVIN COHN*

4_JACQUES MONOD*

5_RENATO DULBECCO*

*See Index p. 120 for biography

21
22

FROM LEFT
Jonas Salk, Francis Crick,
Joseph Slater, Robert Holley,
Warren Weaver, Stephen Kuffler,
Jacques Monod, Melvin Cohn,
Edwin Lennox, Salvador Luria,
Daniel Lehrman, Jacob Bronowski,
Renato Dulbecco, Leslie Orgel.
 23
ON THE SHOULDERS
OF GIANTS Like people, institutions move forward generation by
generation. The Salk Institute’s first group of scientists
included Nobel laureates and luminaries who imbued the Institute with
a spirit of self-sufficiency. There were no departments, and faculty were
expected to ask difficult questions and develop innovative ways to find
the answers. But they were also part of a greater whole. Like the cells they
studied, these researchers were independent but interrelated.

Today, a new generation of Salk researchers is just as brilliant and driven

as its predecessors. These scientists are pursuing bold areas of biological
research to solve some of the world’s most pressing problems in climate
change, cancer, aging, neuroscience, genetics, immunology and much more.
 24

See Index p. 119 for faculty listing

*Current as of April 2022

FROM LEFT
Renato Dulbecco, Francis Crick,
Edwin Lennox, Jacques Monod,
Jonas Salk, Leslie Orgel, Jacob
Bronowski and Melvin Cohn.
 The first Salk The Salk Cancer Center
labs are set up in is established under
temporary buildings the leadership of
City of San Diego gifts land to to the west of the ROBERT HOLLEY. Only two
Jonas Salk for the Institute. Institute’s main years later in 1972,
campus. the center becomes one ROGER GUILLEMIN
The National Foundation for of the first National wins the Nobel
Infantile Paralysis, known Cancer Institute Prize for
today as the MARCH OF DIMES, (NCI)-designated discoveries on the
provides the initial funding of basic research cancer peptide-hormone
$25 million for the construction Major construction centers in the United production of the
of the Salk Institute. is complete. States. brain.
BUILDING

1960 1962 1963 1965 1968 1970 1975 1977 1991

Ground officially broken on LUIS BARRAGÁN ROBERT HOLLEY The Salk Institute
the Institute. visits La Jolla wins the Nobel is designated a
and advises Louis Prize for the historical landmark.
FRANCIS CRICK, Salk founding Kahn to keep the interpretation of
fellow, wins the Nobel Prize plaza open with the genetic code
for the discovery of the no landscaping. and its function RENATO DULBECCO wins the
structure of DNA and its in protein Nobel Prize for discoveries
role in information transfer synthesis. on the interaction between
in living material. tumor viruses and the genetic
material of the cell.
 The five-year philanthropic CAMPAIGN FOR SALK
JONAS SALK, 80, dies concludes, exceeding the initial $300 million
in La Jolla, CA. goal by an additional $60 million.

SYDNEY BRENNER wins In a marriage of art

the Nobel Prize and science, Salk marks Salk, in partnership with the GETTY
for discoveries its 50TH ANNIVERSARY CONSERVATION INSTITUTE, completes
on the genetic with a multiday site- a four-year conservation effort
regulation of organ specific exhibit of glass culminating in the restoration of
development and sculptures by artist Dale the teak window walls, reusing over
programmed cell Chihuly in the Institute’s two-thirds of the original Southeast
death. famous Courtyard. Asian teak.

A LEGACY
1995 2002 2009 2010 2012 2015 2017 2021

The first Symphony at ELIZABETH BLACKBURN A $27 million JOANNE CHORY wins the THE 25TH SYMPHONY AT SALK
Salk takes place. wins the Nobel Prize replacement of Breakthrough Prize is celebrated and marks
for discovering the the central plant for her pioneering the Institute’s return to
Expansion of the molecular nature of and electrical work deciphering full operations following
Institute is completed telomeres. distribution system how plants optimize the start of the COVID-19
with construction of the is completed. A their growth, pandemic. The event also
East Building. solar system is development and marked the kickoff of the
installed and solar cellular structure to $500 million Campaign for
panels placed on transform sunlight the Future: Building a More
the Institute’s into chemical energy. Resilient World to expand
buildings. the impact of Salk science.
A CATHEDRAL
TO SCIENCE
AN HOMAGE
TO ART
 31 OPPOSITE
1_Jonas Salk poses in the
iconic Courtyard of the Salk
Institute, in 1968.
a cathedral to science

BELOW
an homage to art

2_Jonas Salk and his wife,

Françoise Gilot, pictured with
Gilot’s lithograph titled
Genetic Patterns, which,
according to Gilot, “symbolize
the activity of scientists
as they strive to unravel
the mysteries of genetic
structures and interact
with them.”

The art of science is as

important as so-called
technical science. You
need both. It is this
combination that must
be recognized and
acknowledged and valued.
JONAS SALK
 32

a cathedral to science
an homage to art
The science that takes place at the Institute is as ambitious and impressive as
the structures in which it is carried out. Jonas Salk envisioned creating a world-class
research institute, and, for more than half a century, the Institute’s researchers
have fulfilled that vision, its internationally renowned and award-winning scientists
exploring the very foundations of life.

Numerous discoveries have come from the Salk Institute, including

revolutionary findings related to metabolism, plant science, genetics, immunology,
aging, neuroscience and other topics. A whole new class of cancer drugs, tyrosine kinase
inhibitors, was discovered in Salk labs, turning previously fatal types of cancer
into chronic but manageable conditions. Salk scientists are now undertaking bold, new
initiatives to find ways to predict and treat Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias;
tackle both infectious and chronic diseases; and co-opt the natural carbon-storage
abilities of plants to mitigate the effects of climate change.

In addition to innovative and bold science, Salk deeply surmised that art and
education were critical to making the world a better place. Indeed, he believed that
science and art could serve as wellsprings of creativity and meaning for one another, a
belief that is reflected in
INDEED, HE BELIEVED THAT SCIENCE AND ART
his “cathedral to science.”
Today, the Institute that
COULD SERVE AS WELLSPRINGS OF CREATIVITY
bears his name continues that AND MEANING FOR ONE ANOTHER—
tradition with programs that marry art and science, as Jonas Salk himself did in 1970,
when he wed internationally recognized artist and author Françoise Gilot.
 33
a cathedral to science
an homage to art

Like nature, science itself evolves. Jonas

Salk and Louis Kahn designed the Institute to be flexible
to the changing needs of science and technology. Few
people could have anticipated the success and impact
of computational technology that have occurred since
then. The future is undoubtedly digital, and the ability
of scientists to analyze vast quantities of data with
constantly evolving cutting-edge instrumentation will be increasingly
important in promoting health and understanding disease.

In one example, Salk structural biologists are developing

revolutionary microscopy techniques to better image cellular structures
to clarify the roles complex macromolecules play in human diseases such
as HIV. Meanwhile, “big data” analyses by Salk cancer researchers
will bring clarity to how we diagnose and treat deadly cancers and will
potentially offer new avenues for personalized treatments.

Discoveries by Salk’s computational neurobiologists will inform

artificial intelligence (AI) techniques—such as machine learning—that can help
guide therapies for dementia
and neurologic and psychiatric DISCOVERIES BY SALK’S COMPUTATIONAL
disorders. In addition, Salk NEUROBIOLOGISTS WILL INFORM
neuroscientists’ research into THE ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)
the circuitry of the nervous system
TECHNIQUES ... THAT CAN HELP
will help to develop prosthetics
GUIDE THERAPIES FOR DEMENTIA
and assistive devices for people
with visual or neurodegenerative
AND NEUROLOGIC AND PSYCHIATRIC
diseases or spinal cord injuries. DISORDERS.

As the Institute looks to the future, it stays true to the intentions of

its founder and its architect in order to shape and guide decisions into the next
century. The current guardians of Jonas Salk’s dream are tasked with balancing
the needs of a working facility, accommodating for growth and finding ways to
efficiently manage and expand its footprint, while staying in line with the design
and character of the Institute.
 a cathedral to science
an homage to art
34
 35
a cathedral to science
an homage to art

SCIENCE
AT SALK
EVERY CURE HAS A
BEGINNING.

EVERY
SOLUTION,

A STARTING
POINT.

*01
*02
*See Index for microscopy descriptions.
HUMAN BRAINS ARE A COMPLEX PARADOX:
both exquisitely adept and
exceptionally vulnerable. We are
capable of music, art, mathematics,
NEUROSCIENCE
dance and other remarkable feats. But
we also are at risk for a host of
diseases, from autism during childhood
to Alzheimer’s later in life. At the
Salk Institute, we illuminate how genes
control neurons, how neural circuits
process information and how our brains
36
a cathedral to science
an homage to art
*03
enable us to move and make decisions.
We chart different types of cells in
the brain and have made strides in
understanding how immune processes can
affect our neural function. We also
develop new tools and use advanced
computational techniques to better
understand this “black box” of biology.
By combining these approaches, we
are making rapid progress in decoding
the brain.
 37
a cathedral to science
an homage to art

GENETICS

*04

A NUMBER OF SALK LABS DIVE INTO THE WORKINGS OF GENES,

which play a role in everything from how tumors
form to how plants adapt to their environment. Salk
scientists also examine how the epigenome—the
collection of chemical tags that stud DNA—may be as
important as the genome itself when it comes to health
and disease.

*05 *06

*See Index for microscopy descriptions.

 38

a cathedral to science
an homage to art
*07

MODERN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH HAS YIELDED

MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF DATA—but few good
ways to understand the information.

COMPUTATIONAL
Salk researchers are developing
mathematical and analytical frameworks

BIOLOGY
to uncover new connections in
biological systems, such as how the
human visual system can inform image-
recognition technologies or machine
learning can be used to discover
disease hallmarks in cells.

*08 *09

*See Index for microscopy descriptions.

 39
a cathedral to science
an homage to art

*10

*11 *12

*See Index for microscopy descriptions.

GETTING OLDER DOESN’T HAVE TO MEAN

GETTING SICKER. Salk scientists
collaborate across disciplines to
discover the fundamental causes of
aging and find new ways to prevent
and treat age-related diseases,
particularly Alzheimer’s disease.

AGING
Salk’s Healthy Aging Initiative
includes experts from cancer,
metabolism, immunology, neuroscience
and more.
 40

a cathedral to science
an homage to art
*13

METABOLISM
SALK LABS SEEK TO UNDERSTAND HUMAN
METABOLISM and what happens when this
biological system breaks down, such as
in diabetes. Salk discoveries include
the circadian science-based finding
that when we eat is as important as
what we eat, and that molecules called
nuclear hormone receptors can be
targeted to treat osteoporosis, asthma
and many cancers.

*14

*See Index for microscopy descriptions.

 41
a cathedral to science
an homage to art

*17

RESEARCHERS AT SALK ARE DEMYSTIFYING

CANCERS and continuing a legacy
of developing new approaches to
combat these hard-to-treat diseases.
The Institute’s Conquering Cancer
Initiative is targeting the deadliest
cancers—lung, colon, pancreatic,
ovarian and triple-negative breast—
with novel approaches that will destroy
tumors before they develop drug
resistance.

*15

CANCER

*16

*See Index for microscopy descriptions.

 42

a cathedral to science
an homage to art
SALK SCIENTISTS STUDY PLANTS SO THAT
HUMANS WILL HAVE THE FOOD, CLOTHING,
ENERGY AND MEDICINES they need
now and in the future. As part of
Salk’s Harnessing Plants Initiative,
biologists are pioneering an
innovative, scalable approach to
tackle climate change by optimizing
a plant’s natural ability to capture
and store carbon and adapt to diverse
climate conditions.
PLANT BIOLOGY

*18

*19 *20

*See Index for microscopy descriptions.

 43
a cathedral to science
an homage to art

MANY DISORDERS AND LIFE-THREATENING

DISEASES COULD BE CURED BY REPLACING
OR FIXING DYSFUNCTIONAL CELLS. Salk
research aims to uncover novel ways
to transplant new cells, tissues and
even organs, while minimizing their
rejection. Salk scientists are leading
the way in discovering how to use gene
editing to correct genetic defects in
cells and generate healthy new tissues
from stem cells.
REGENERATIVE MEDICINE

*21

*22 *23

*See Index for microscopy descriptions.

 44

a cathedral to science
an homage to art
*24

IMMUNE SYSTEM BIOLOGY

IN A WORLD FULL OF DANGERS, FROM BACTERIAL INFECTIONS TO CANCER, OUR IMMUNE SYSTEM IS OUR FORTRESS. We study
the immune system to boost our ability to fight off numerous diseases. Our scientists are pioneering
next-generation imaging technologies to visualize immune cells and viruses (like HIV), while
developing insights into health problems such as inflammation and autoimmunity.

*25 *26

*See Index for microscopy descriptions.

 45
a cathedral to science
an homage to art

*27

INFECTIOUS DISEASE

*28 *29

*See Index for microscopy descriptions.

VIRUSES, BACTERIA AND PARASITES ARE AMONG

THE MANY INFECTIOUS CHALLENGES HUMANS
FACE. At Salk we seek to understand
infection and immunity in new ways,
from finding novel techniques to image
immune cells and infectious agents to
treating pathogens less as enemies to
be vanquished and more as potential
allies on the road to health.
 46

a cathedral to science
an homage to art
PROTEIN INTERACTIONS

*30

PROTEINS—LARGE, COMPLEX MOLECULES—

CATALYZE VIRTUALLY ALL OF THE CHEMICAL
REACTIONS that take place in the
body. Salk scientists study their
interactions and surface structures
to discover how they heal or how they
harm.

*31

*32

*See Index for microscopy descriptions.

 47
a cathedral to science

TRAINING
an homage to art

FUTURE
SCIENTISTS
Jonas Salk founded the Salk Institute
with the philosophy that it should
both drive scientific breakthroughs
and inspire the next generation
of scientists. Out of Jonas Salk’s
vision, the Institute’s Education
Outreach program was born. Its
mission is to: teach students,
teachers and the community about
scientific literacy in addition to
the role of basic biological research
in our world; inspire enthusiasm
and interest in advanced levels of
science instruction, particularly in
science as a career; and promote public awareness of
Salk and the value of basic research as it relates to
career readiness, critical thinking skills and the
development of an informed citizenry.

Salk Education Outreach serves San Diego County students, teachers and other community
members through its programs: Mobile Science Lab, Heithoff-Brody High School Summer Scholars, March of
Dimes High School Science Day, Edwards-Yeckel SciChats and the Ellen Potter Research Connections for
Teachers Symposium. These programs are offered at no cost to students, teachers and schools, thereby
reducing economic barriers to high-quality science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)
education. Over the past 40 years, Salk Education Outreach has delivered innovative, engaging STEM
learning experiences to thousands of students—a majority of whom come from underrepresented and
underserved communities.
48

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THIS PAGE
Students who take part in
Education Outreach programs,
such as March of Dimes High
School Science Day and
Heithoff-Brody High School
Summer Scholars, learn first-
hand from working scientists
in Salk labs, perform their
own experiments and attend
meetings and lectures.
a cathedral to science
an homage to art

THIS PAGE
Fashion designers from San Diego
Mesa College’s design program
created dresses that represented
the science behind microscopy
images for the 2017 Salk Women
& Science Design & Discovery
Showcase.
a cathedral to science
an homage to art
WOMEN_&_SCIENCE
 51
a cathedral to science

The Salk Women & Science program engages

an homage to art

women in the community with leaders in

biological science and technology. At its
core, the program inspires more women to
embrace scientific research as a focus of
personal and philanthropic interest. Each
year, the program funds research awards for
graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to
conduct high-risk research projects. The program
also provides grants for childcare and travel to
scientific conferences.
The program provides crucial support—funded 100 percent by private philanthropy—to deserving postdoctoral
candidates to continue their pursuit of high-risk, high-reward research in stages too early to attract
traditional funding. The awards are targeted toward supporting future scientific leaders who will also
actively foster the increased participation of women and girls in science. In addition, the program grants
additional awards to fund travel expenses to conferences and childcare; educates the community about
recent discoveries made by Salk’s women scientists; facilitates networking between community leaders and
Salk scientists; fosters friendships and encourages philanthropic support; and provides mentors to the
next generation of great scientists.

As of 2021, the program has raised $1.66 million from over 1,100 donations and awarded 100 awards to assist
women scientists.

DESIGN AND DISCOVERY EVENTS

Continuing the long tradition at the Salk Institute of exploring the numerous connections between
art and science, Salk Women & Science Design and Discovery events provide a platform to communicate
the visual splendor of scientific research in the form of design. In 2017, the event featured a
fashion showcase that paired Salk researchers and student designers from San Diego Mesa College
to use biological images generated at Salk as inspiration to create dresses that represented the
science behind the images. In 2018, the event provided a platform to communicate scientific research
via striking imagery from Salk researchers in collaboration with the Waitt Advanced Biophotonics
Center, while also raising awareness and funds for further scientific research.

1 2

THIS PAGE
1_Dress designed in collaboration with San Diego Mesa
College student Tammie Pontsler and Salk researcher
Pamela Maher.

2_Guests view a microscopy image from the Gage lab

of human neurons grown in a dish, which mimic those
in the brain’s learning and memory center, allowing
researchers to model psychiatric disorders.
 52

a cathedral to science
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THE SALK WOMEN & SCIENCE URSULA BELLUGI TRAILBLAZER AWARD
The Women & Science Trailblazer Award recognizes outstanding achievements made by women in their field.
Recipients have pioneered changes within their fields as innovators, groundbreakers, collaborators and
mentors. They have been dedicated to making significant advances in both their professional and personal lives.
Trailblazers forge their own paths to achieve their vision. In 2019, the Trailblazer Award was renamed in honor
of Salk Distinguished Professor Emerita Ursula Bellugi, who established an endowed fund to support those who
have pioneered changes within the STEM fields.

Recipients of the Trailblazer Award include:

2018: Catherine Rivier | Professor Emerita

Professor Emerita Catherine Rivier joined the Salk Institute in 1970, and during her
tenure at Salk, she studied the mechanisms through which the brain is alerted to stressors,
such as psychological threats, infections or drugs, as well as the hormones used by the
brain to respond to these challenges. Rivier identified a large number of hormonal
functions and new endocrine pathways throughout the body. In publishing hundreds of
papers, she earned numerous consecutive “Highly Cited Researcher” awards and paved the
way for many future discoveries.

2019: Ursula Bellugi | Distinguished Professor Emerita

Distinguished Professor Emerita Ursula Bellugi conducted decades of groundbreaking
work illuminating the ties between neural and cognitive functions. Her expertise in
neurobiological, genetic and behavioral studies allowed humanity to better understand
Williams syndrome—a puzzling genetic disorder that results in low IQ and strong desire
for social interactions—and autism. In addition to leading research into Williams
syndrome and autism, Bellugi is known for discovering that American Sign Language (ASL)
is processed by the brain the same way as other languages.

2020: Joanne Chory | Salk Professor

Professor Joanne Chory’s efforts leading Salk’s Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology
Laboratory, in addition to her roles as a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator
and the Howard H. and Maryam R. Newman Chair in Plant Biology, have been widely acclaimed.
She was awarded the 2018 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences and was made a Fellow of the
National Academy of Inventors. As co-director of Salk’s Harnessing Plants Initiative,
which focuses on using plants to store more carbon in their roots to mitigate the effects
of climate change, Chory was instrumental in the Institute being chosen in 2019 for
funding of more than $35 million through The Audacious Project, a highly competitive
program housed at TED.

Suzanne Bourgeois | Professor Emerita

Suzanne Bourgeois established the

Suzanne Bourgeois Women & Science
Fund to advance the work of female Salk
faculty in 2018. Bourgeois conducted
SALK WOMEN & SCIENCE
pioneering work on the regulation
SPECIAL AWARD RECIPIENTS, 2021
of gene expression and authored the
From left: Ying Sun, Helen McRae, Veronica Scerra, Xiaochun Cai,
authoritative book on the founding of
Wen Mai Wong, Katia Troha, Nuttida Rungratsameetaweemana, Payel
the Salk Institute. Mondal and Suzanne Dufresne.
 53
a cathedral to science
an homage to art

The contributions of Joan and Irwin Jacobs have been

transformative for Salk and touched every part of
the Institute. The funding provided by the Jacobs
has strengthened the Institute’s ability to attract
and retain top scientists in their field and pursue
research at the forefront of scientific discovery.

TRANSFORMATIVE
CONTRIBUTIONS
HOW IRWIN AND JOAN JACOBS—
AND PRIVATE PHILANTHROPY—HAVE
TRANSFORMED SCIENCE AT SALK

At the same time, the Jacobs contributed countless

hours to help lead the Institute and offer strategic
advice and counsel to the Institute’s governing
body and administrative leadership over the past
two decades. The Jacobs have been enthusiastic
supporters of Salk science, inspiring others to
join them in advancing the mission of changing
lives through high-risk, high-reward science and
strengthening Salk overall.
 54

a cathedral to science
an homage to art
$100 MILLION CHALLENGE
As part of the Institute’s Campaign for the Future, a $500 million philanthropic and scientific campaign
launched in 2021, the Jacobs announced a $100 million matching gift to Salk. The donation will provide $1
for every $2 raised from other donors up to $100 million. Funding from the challenge will underwrite the
Joan & Irwin Jacobs Science and Technology Center at Salk to create critical laboratory and related research
space to expand the faculty and access to new technology that will expand the global impact of Salk science.

RECRUITMENT
The Jacobs became involved with the Institute in 2004 when they helped to establish the Crick-Jacobs
Center for Computational and Theoretical Biology, where scientists use computer modeling to study how the
brain processes information. In 2006, Irwin Jacobs (a co-founder of Qualcomm) was selected as Chairman
of Salk’s Board of Trustees, a role he would hold for the next 10 years. In this capacity, he oversaw
the selection of two of the Institute’s presidents, the recruitment of numerous world-renowned faculty
members and the bolstering of programs across the Institute. He now serves as Chair Emeritus.

CHAIR CHALLENGE
In 2008, the Jacobs established the Joan Klein and Irwin Mark Jacobs Senior Scientist Endowed Chair
Challenge and encouraged donors to endow 20 chairs for senior Salk scientists. For every $2 million that
a donor contributed toward an endowed chair at the Institute, the Jacobs added $1 million to achieve the
$3 million funding level required to fully endow a chair for a Salk senior faculty member. This crucial
support enables Salk scientists to continue to pursue the bold, life-changing science the Institute is
renowned for.

INNOVATION GRANTS
In subsequent years, the Jacobs provided funds for numerous key programs and initiatives at the Institute.
One such transformative program was Salk’s Innovation Grants Program, a donor-funded mechanism
the Jacobs launched for supporting out-of-the-box, potentially trailblazing research ideas that
would otherwise not attract traditional funding. The program has supported dozens of projects and
resulted in paradigm-shifting results reported in high-impact journals such as Science, Cell, Nature,
PNAS and Neuron.

The impact of generous support from the Jacobs—and many other Salk donors—will be felt for generations
as the Institute’s scientific breakthroughs continue to improve humanity’s health and well-being.
Their contributions illustrate the transformative impact philanthropic gifts and community engagement
have had on Salk, and the crucial role they play in the Institute’s future.

Irwin and Joan Jacobs

celebrating Irwin’s 80th
birthday at the Salk
Institute.
a cathedral to science
an homage to art

Chihuly at Salk was generously

underwritten by Joan and Irwin Jacobs.
a cathedral to science
_THE_ARTS_
an homage to art
CELEBRATING_
 57
a cathedral to science
an homage to art

Year-round, the grounds double as an

exhibition space featuring extraordinary and
diverse works of art to connect with the
Institute’s technical sciences, inspiring the
innovators and ambassadors who work here. In
the way Jonas Salk intended when he remarked on
the value of both the science of art and technical
science, the Salk Institute is a space where the
living relationship between the introspection of
art and the analysis of science is enabled.

IMAGES
1_Sibylle Szaggars
Redford, Way of the
Rain gallery, 2017.

2_Jamie Simon, Cell

Cycle poster, 2021.

3_Amy Cao, Inside Salk

cover, 2019.

4_Sibylle Szaggars
Redford, Way of the
Rain gallery, 2017.

5_Employee Art Show,

2006.

6_Françoise Gilot
exhibit “The Floating
Paintings” in 2008.
Pictured is “A Night’s
Journey.”

7_Dale Chihuly, Chihuly

at the Salk, 2010.
Blown glass.

8_Françoise Gilot,
Pacific Protection,
1984. Acrylic on 3
canvas.

2
 a cathedral to science
an homage to art
58

8
5

6
 59
a cathedral to science
an homage to art

In addition to annual events that pair science

and art in dynamic ways, the Institute
frequently arranges special programs that
excite artistic and scientific sensibilities,
such as the immersive Way of the Rain experience
created by environmental artist Sibylle Szaggars
Redford; the display of an original 1217
engrossment of the Magna Carta, considered one
of the most significant legal documents in the
history of democracy; and a 50th anniversary
exhibit featuring campus-wide blown-glass
installations by renowned American glass artist
Dale Chihuly.

1
 60

IMAGES
1_From left, Chris Fletcher,
Keeper of Special Collections
at Oxford University’s Bodleian
3
Library, Sarah Thomas, former
director of the Bodleian
Libraries, and Salk Trustee Irwin
Jacobs, pictured at the Institute
with the 1217 engrossment of the
Magna Carta.

2–3_Blown-glass sculptures by
artist Dale Chihuly installed
on the Salk campus for the 50th
anniversary.

4_A drawing by Dale Chihuly

to celebrate the Salk’s 50th
anniversary and the exhibit of
his glass sculptures.

5_Violinist and polio survivor

Itzhak Perlman performing at the
Institute to commemorate the
centenary of Jonas Salk’s birth.
The Institute awarded Perlman the
Salk Medal for Public Service.

5
 61
a cathedral to science
an homage to art
2 Philharmonic in Germany, the National Library
1_Film crew on the
Courtyard
2_Cinematographer
Edward Lachman and
director Robert Redford
CATHEDRALS
OF CULTURE
In a project called Cathedrals of Culture,
German filmmaker Wim Wenders challenged himself,
Robert Redford and four other directors to
each make a short film revealing the soul of
an important building. Redford chose to focus
on the Salk Institute, the only US building
featured in the series of six short films. In
Redford’s words, Salk “epitomizes a design that
understands how dramatically creativity drives
discovery.”
The series also featured the Berlin
in Russia, Halden Prison in Norway, the Opera
House in Norway, and the Centre Pompidou in
France. The Salk film premiered in the US in
October 2014.
“When you walk into the Courtyard, it’s as if
the curtains are pulled back on the greatest
act of nature: the movement of light across
the sky and sea,” says Salk Professor Thomas
Albright, who was featured in the film. “Being
surrounded by nature of this magnitude is
incredibly compelling. It makes you consider
the properties of the world in which we live.
And that inspires the work we do here.”
 62

a cathedral to science
Prompted by the
magnificent gift of a

an homage to art
Steinway Concert Grand
#191 from generous Salk
BE A M A Z E D A N D I N S P I R E D
benefactor Conrad Prebys
in 2013, the Institute organizes an ambitious
program that melds amazing science and
inspiring music. The annual series provides a
platform to showcase performances by talented
emerging musicians and talks by scientists
about the latest discoveries in Salk labs.

CLOCKWISE FROM
TOP LEFT
1_Professor Gerald Shadel

2_Singer Julia Bullock

accompanied by pianist
Renate Rohlfing on the
piano, March 2016

3_Assistant Professor
Graham McVicker

4_Pianist Fei-Fei Dong,

March 2019
_SYMPHONY_
AT_SALK_
 65
a cathedral to science
an homage to art

Since 1996, Symphony at Salk, the Institute’s

signature annual concert gala, has brought
renowned artists from stage and screen to
perform alongside the San Diego Symphony in an
unforgettable evening of music and munificence,
all set against the backdrop of Kahn’s masterpiece.
All proceeds support the Institute’s scientific
inquiries as well as Salk’s award-winning
educational outreach programs, which have helped
generations of students discover their passion for
research and explore careers in science.
 66

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1

an homage to art
2

THIS PAGE 3

1_Grammy Award-
nominated singer,
songwriter and actor
Josh Groban shares
a laugh at the 25th
Symphony at Salk.

2_Superstar Liza
Minnelli wows the crowd
at the 15th Symphony.

3_Tony Award-winning
star of Hamilton Leslie
Odom Jr. brings down
the house at the 23rd
Symphony.
 67
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an homage to art

Each summer, colorful posters Françoise Gilot has created

for every Symphony at Salk event line the black, wrought-
iron fences on either side of the travertine steps
leading to the Salk Institute’s iconic Courtyard.

Gilot has long had a fascination for stylish architecture

and a lifelong interest in science. Her interest in
building design led her to the Salk Institute in 1969,
where Jonas Salk himself led her on a

THE SYMPHONY tour after mutual friends arranged for them

to meet. Less than a year later, the two

POSTERS were married.

A core belief of Jonas Salk’s was that the harmony

between art and science is something that greatly
benefits both fields, as well as humanity. Gilot and
Salk’s marriage symbolized the manifestation of this
belief, one the couple shared.
 a cathedral to science
an homage to art
68
 69
a cathedral to science
an homage to art

FRANÇOISE
GILOT
Born in 1921 in Neuilly, near Paris,
Gilot had her first exhibition at age
21. She developed strong relationships
with several legendary artists of the
time—Matisse, Braque and Cocteau. She
and Pablo Picasso had two children,
Claude and Paloma. Gilot’s youngest
child, Aurelia, was born during her
marriage to French artist Luc Simon.

By the late 1960s, Gilot was an

internationally recognized artist and
best-selling author. Deftly composing
space—or environment—with color planes
rather than linear perspective, Gilot
created an organic, structural rhythm,
reflecting her concerns for simplicity
and tone-color coordination.

below / Jonas Salk and Françoise Gilot

Although Gilot returned to live in

New York following Salk’s death in 1995,
she graciously continued to serve
as Honorary Chair of Symphony at Salk
each year since its inauguration in
1996. She maintained studios in New
York, Paris and California, which were
a vital international presence in art
circles and the scientific community
for 25 years.
 70

a cathedral to science
an homage to art
THE SALK MEDAL_
The Salk Medal is awarded to
recipients who have made significant
leadership contributions to world
health in a manner that is consistent
with founder Jonas Salk’s humanitarian
ethos and accomplishments. The award
is not presented annually and was
first conferred in 2005 to honor
the 50th anniversary of Jonas Salk’s
development of the polio vaccine.
Salk Medals are awarded solely at
the discretion of the Institute’s
Board of Trustees upon recommendation
by the faculty Awards Committee.
Salk Medals can be awarded in one of
two grades.

THE SALK INSTITUTE MEDAL FOR PAST

RESEARCH EXCELLENCE recognizes significant AWARDEES
contributions in the area of basic scientific
research with particular impact on science policy,
Cori Bargmann, PhD
2020 / Research Excellence
humanities, the Institute or human health.

Robert A. Weinberg, PhD

THE SALK INSTITUTE MEDAL FOR PUBLIC 2016 / Research Excellence
SERVICE , originally the Salk Medal for Health
Solomon H. Snyder, MD, DSc
and Humanity, recognizes contributions to science,
2016 / Research Excellence
medicine, public health or public health policy
through business, government or philanthropy. Itzhak Perlman
2014 / Public Service

Irwin M. Jacobs, ScD

2010 / Public Service
The medal itself was designed for the Institute by
French fashion designer and businesswoman Paloma Robert G. Roeder, PhD
2010 / Research Excellence
Picasso.

Known for her dramatic jewelry creations, Picasso Paul Farmer, MD, PhD
2005 / Public Service
is the younger child of Pablo Picasso and painter/
writer Françoise Gilot, who later married Jonas Donald Metcalf, MD
Salk. The medals are fabricated by Tiffany & Co. 2005 / Research Excellence
SITE P
NORTHWEST
PARKING LOT
WEST
INTER
IM FA
TORR
EY PI
CILIT
Y
PLAN
INES
SCEN
NORTH

IC DR
IVE

EAST
NORTH BUILDING BLDG
NORTH
D

WING
EY PINES ROA

EAST
PARKING LOT

EAST
BLDG
NORTH TORR

SOUTH BUILDING SOUTH EAST INTERIM

WING FACILITY

SALK INSTITUTE ROAD

 75

1964 1974
 76

1984 2020
architectural significance
79

There is little
the institute

doubt that Louis

Kahn took Jonas
Salk's challenge to
"create a facility
worthy of a visit by
Picasso" seriously.
A modernist
masterwork, the
original buildings
of the Institute,
the Courtyard and the
surrounding grounds
have become iconic.
 the institute
architectural significance
80
laboratory complex
81
the institute

THE MOST SUBLIME LANDSCAPE EVER CREATED BY AN

AMERICAN ARCHITECT. NEW YORK TIMES
 82

laboratory complex
The laboratory complex is located on flat ground on the west side of the campus.
It is a single building consisting of two wings (North and South Buildings) that are

the institute
linked by the plaza between them. Each wing contains three floors of laboratory space
surrounded by towers that support its functions: offices to the west, professorial
studies toward the plaza, service towers on the external sides and the mechanical wing
across the east. The latter physically links the wings’ basements beneath a roof garden.

The laboratory complex was the first section of Kahn’s tripartite scheme
to be constructed so that scientific research could progress as soon as possible. As
the budget was exhausted by 1965, only the North Building was fitted out and the South
Building did not house working laboratories until the 1990s.

SIGNIFICANCE

With the creation of the plaza, the

laboratory complex took on the mantle of
representing the Salk Institute. It was
the Salk Institute that Kahn showed to
prospective clients as an example of his
work, and today the laboratory complex is
recognized as an iconic building of the
20th century.
 the institute
courtyard
83

YARD
COURT-
 84

I would not put a tree tre

or blade of grass grass
in this space. in space
This should be a plaza
not a garden. not a garde
LUIS BARRÁGAN
 85
The focal point of the Salk Institute is the Courtyard, also known as the plaza,
which visitors find to be its most memorable space. The Courtyard is enclosed on both
the institute

long sides by the laboratories, in front of which lofty study towers give a remarkable
courtyard

depth through the layering of space, an effect unknown in traditional collegiate courts.
The sheltered porticos below the towers meet Jonas Salk’s brief that “cloisters” should
be brought to the laboratories. This results in myriad vistas in all directions and
extends the plaza to include the lower laboratories and the Courtyard.

Initially, the central plaza was conceived as two, but the design didn’t sit
well with Salk, who realized it might create a divide and result in two cultures at the
Institute rather than one. The team redesigned it with a single central space, which
Kahn debated making into a monastic garden or covering with trees, but he could not
decide what species would suit the climate.

THE SENSITIVITY OF THE BUILDING AND THIS SPACE TO THE

MANY MOODS OF THE SKY AND THE ATMOSPHERE WILL
MAKE THE PLAZA A PLACE ALWAYS CHANGING, NEVER
STATIC, FULL OF THE NEVER-ENDING ANTICIPATION OF THE
RISING AND SETTING OF THE SUN. LOUIS KAHN
 When Mexican modern architect Luis Barragán visited, he reportedly told
Kahn that the space should be an open plaza, without vegetation, so it could function
as a civic space, resulting in the dramatic, single travertine plaza that mirrors the
openness of the sky. Barragán’s recommendation came as a complete surprise, but Kahn
wholeheartedly embraced it.

The plaza is the only part of the building left at grade, which allowed Kahn to
retain a human scale for the court, meeting Salk’s instruction for the plaza to unite the
community by making it readily accessible to all three laboratory floors. To the west,
the plaza is open to the Pacific Ocean, and to the east, one can see views of the tranquil
eucalyptus grove.

SIGNIFICANCE

The Courtyard is of exceptional

significance: it unites the laboratory
complex as an entity and provides
an honorific, monumental space that
celebrates the Salk Institute.
 87

THE RIVER
the river of life
the institute

OF LIFE

SIGNIFICANCE

The water feature “The River of Life”

directs the visitor’s gaze to the expanse
beyond the Pacific and lines up directly
with the sunset during the spring and
fall equinoxes, providing a sight of
inspiration and awe.
 88
Water was a constant in each of the designs for the Institute, and Barragán’s

the river of life

advice reinforced its importance. A narrow channel cuts into the travertine that runs

the institute
parallel to the two buildings and carries a slow-running flow of reclaimed water. For
Kahn and Salk, this canal and fountain, dubbed “The River of Life,” not only recalled
the Alhambra at Granada, but also were symbolic of the constant stream of scientific
discovery progressing out into the greater ocean of humanity’s knowledge.

A 250,000-gallon underground cistern collects rainwater to replenish “The

River of Life,” and is just one facet of the Institute’s sustainability practices.
 the institute
the labs
89

THE
LABS
 90

the institute
The laboratories may lab the labs

be characterized be char
as the architecture as t
of air cleanliness of ai
and area adjustability.
LOUIS KAHN
the institute
the labs

THOSE LABS [AT PITTSBURGH] WERE CLEAR SPANS WITH

MOVABLE WALLS. YOU COULD DIFFERENTIATE THEM AS
NEEDS CHANGED. I HAD DISCOVERED SOMETHING THAT
WORKED, TRIED TO MAKE IT BETTER, AND LOU WAS AN IDEAL
PLAYMATE WITH WHOM TO TINKER. JONAS SALK
 92
Kahn’s design gave maximum flexibility to accommodate changing technical and
scientific needs, but with daylight and views available to each research area. Details

the institute
were thoughtfully designed: steel storefront windows and doors are the language of the

the labs
laboratories and contrast with the oak used in the studies and offices. Light fittings
run perpendicular to the service slots to give visible structure to the space.

By separating floors that contained lab spaces and offices from ones that
contained electricity, ventilation and other utilities, Kahn’s design enabled the
Institute’s remarkable flexibility. The use of Vierendeel trusses (beams at the
perimeters) provides uninterrupted floor
plates easily arranged to suit individual
research programs. In addition to realizing
column-free space below, the Vierendeel
trusses provide a continuous service
floor above each laboratory. Their height
facilitates the rearrangement of mechanical
systems to suit the research needs of each
scientist without disturbing neighboring
areas. These interstitial spaces help
eliminate the need to concentrate equipment
in specific areas within a laboratory.

SIGNIFICANCE
On the alternating three floors
that conduct science (lower, ground and
The laboratories are an innovative model
upper), massive 245-foot-long spaces
of highly efficient use of space, while
supported by the Vierendeel trusses permit the flexible mechanical systems enable
labs to be even more configurable, as the Institute to adjust to the ever-
removable internal walls can be adjusted changing needs of science as effectively
over time for new scientists and equipment. as possible.
 the institute
study towers/office wings
93

STUDY

WINGS
TOWERS
/OFFICE
 94

study towers/office wings

the institute
Raising the studies Rais
reinforced the reinforc
concept of concept of a r
a rarefied retreat. a ra
the study towers/office wings
95
the institute

Essential to Salk’s vision, the studies provide a retreat away from the
laboratory bench. The study towers form one coherent group comprising studies, stairs,
porticos and arcades. Their articulation as mostly freestanding elements symbolizes
their independence from the work in the laboratory. Offsetting the studies from
the laboratory floors reinforced the concept of a rarefied retreat, but also formed
shaded places beneath for contemplation and encounters.

The office wings anchor both laboratory buildings at the west end. Above
the arcades are four floors of offices of which the two top stories are taller to
house the executive offices. In the North Wing, these were beautifully planned, with
millwork partitions that could be opened up to provide generous meeting rooms. In contrast,
the library on the second floor is modest. The South Wing was not fitted out until 1995.

THE BUILDING FACES AWAY FROM THE LABORATORIES

TOWARD THE PACIFIC, PROVIDING A TRANQUIL SETTING FOR
CONCENTRATION. SUZANNE BOURGEOIS

The diagonal fins on the
west front imply internal balconies
to each office and direct views toward
the canyon and ocean. The arrangement
of the façade with its inflected
return allows each room to relate
directly to views and daylight.
31
the study towers/office wings
the institute
SIGNIFICANCE
The relationship of the building to the
setting, with the spaces looking out to
the Pacific Ocean, associate the office
wings with the study towers as places
distant but connected to the laboratory.
 the institute
east addition
97

EAST
ADDITION
 98

Keen attention attentio

to detail, a salute to de
to the original original
master design by master
the American master.
the institute
east addition
99
 100
The East Buildings, which opened in 1995, comprise 110,000 square feet of
additional research space, offices and a scientific meeting center that includes the

east addition
the institute
300-seat Conrad T. Prebys Auditorium and foyer built underground. The freestanding pair
of buildings are joined by an open court, which gives a view through to Kahn’s plaza
beyond.

The additional structures were built with keen attention to detail, emulating
the original designs and using similar materials to those of the original buildings.
The addition created a courtyard that formed the Institute’s new main entrance to the
campus.

The new buildings were designed by Jack MacAllister and David Reinhart, who
had worked for Kahn and stayed on in California once the Salk Institute was finished. For
Jonas Salk, there was no question that they were the perfect choice for the project.

The addition of the East Buildings was not without controversy. Objections
included a belief that the new buildings diminished Kahn’s masterwork and negatively
impacted the site, as well as that the new expansion diminished the size of the eucalyptus
grove and impacted the visual reveal intended by Kahn and Salk when visitors emerged
from the grove. However, the additions doubled the laboratory and office spaces on site.

SIGNIFICANCE

The construction of the East Buildings

as two wings joined by a court
offered crucially needed laboratory,
administrative and meeting space.
 landscape/materials
101
the institute

LANDSCAPE

rmal Formal landscape

inforces reinforces
ntrast the contrast of
man the human-occupied
gged with the rugged
touched and untouched.
 landscape/materials
the institute
Formal lawns extended the landscape to the north and south and bordered an
existing eucalyptus grove to the east, with a parking lot beyond. Trees and ground cover
were added to create a naturalistic grove with paths linking the plaza and parking. More
than half of this grove was repurposed for much-needed lab and administrative space when
the East Buildings were built in 1995.

Trees outlined the perimeter of the site to buffer the Institute from future
neighboring development.

SIGNIFICANCE

Landscape was integral to Kahn’s design:

it modulated how buildings were connected
and tempered the circulation between them.
Shade was provided for people and cars.
Formal landscape reinforced the contrast
of human-occupied areas with those left
to nature, rugged and untouched: the
canyon, bluff and the ocean.
landscape/materials
103
CONCRETE IS THE MATERIAL OF PARKING GARAGES AND
OVERPASSES AND HIGHWAYS, BUT IN THE SALK INSTITUTE,
the institute

THE CONCRETE HAS AN ENORMOUS WARMTH TO IT AND

CHANGES IN BEAUTIFUL WAYS AS THE SUN MOVES AROUND
OR THE FOG ROLLS IN. NATHANIEL KAHN

MATERIALS
1
 104

landscape/materials
Concrete

the institute
The Salk Institute was Kahn’s first major project using cast-in-place concrete
and is of the highest quality. His specification went beyond the basics of construction
into the realm of aesthetics. He invented an aesthetic and technical language that
responded to concrete, which became the chief architectural ornament and expression of
workmanship.

The team mulled over many samples to find the perfect fit. Kahn ended up drawing
inspiration from Roman times to select pozzolanic concrete, which turns a subtle pink
when the sunlight hits. Once the concrete was set in the building, Kahn allowed no
further processing of the finish—no grinding, no filling and, above all, no painting.

Travertine

Kahn’s first choice was a rugged Texas limestone, but he later favored
travertine for paving. Before the paving decision was made, the plaza was left as
“a muddy mess” until a budget for it became available in 1967.

Teak, oak, steel and glass

For Kahn, oak and teak millwork represented the study and office, while steel
and glass were the defining features of the laboratory. Doors in the long curtain walls
were centered in each bay, and the light fixtures with globe fittings above the transoms
signaled entries into the laboratories.

Since this is a this is

concrete building, co
the quality the qualit
SIGNIFICANCE
of the concrete of the
The architectural concrete at the Institute
is a major element of the character and
work will largely work
spatial qualities of the place.
The window-wall assemblies demonstrate
determine the determi
Jonas Salk’s philosophy of the Institute the quality of the qua
as a place of humanized science, and Kahn’s
expression of a monumental structure the architecture. the
coupled with human “domestic” spaces. The
design and construction demonstrate a
synthesis of industry and craft.
THIS PAGE
This sketch was drawn by Louis Kahn
in 1963 on a section of concrete in
the lower mechanical wing of the
Institute, and is still visible
today. During construction of
the Institute, the pencil sketch
was Kahn’s attempt to illustrate
a process needed to establish
the reveals in the concrete that
comprised Salk’s specially made
pozzolan blended concrete.
 109

MID-CENTURY MONUMENT—
a masterpiece
protecting

NEXT-CENTURY CONSERVATION
Since opening, the Salk RESTORATION
Institute has received numerous awards
and recognitions for its architectural
significance and historical importance.
In 1992, the Institute received a
Twenty-Five Year Award from the American
Institute of Architects (AIA) and was
featured in the AIA exhibit Structures
of Our Time: 31 Buildings That Changed
Modern Life. In 2006, California’s

2
Historical Resources Commission In 2013, the Institute launched a four-year, $9.8 million
effort in conjunction with the Getty Conservation
pronounced the entire campus of the
Institute to restore the teak accents that are one of the
Institute eligible for nomination to the most eye-catching features of the original buildings. The work is
National Register of Historic Places. expected to add another 50-70 years of life to the wood, which
adorns the studies and offices of Kahn’s original buildings. The
restoration was recognized with an Excellence in Craftsmanship
In 2020, the Institute and Preservation Technology award from the California
Preservation Foundation in 2017.
celebrated its 60th anniversary.
Despite the challenges of time and
weather, the buildings designed by Kahn
PRESERVATION
continue to serve as home to dozens of

3
In 2018, the Institute received a $200,000 grant from the
scientific labs, faculty, postdoctoral Getty Foundation’s Keeping It Modern program, for a
students, lab staff and administrative five-year effort to conserve the Institute’s celebrated
concrete façades.
staff. Preservation and conservation
projects have been championed by the
Institute’s leadership and have
included the investment of significant RECLAMATION TO MODERNIZATION
financial resources and the development
of comprehensive conservation
guidelines. Some of the highlights
include the following

REVITALIZATION

1
An architectural landscape master plan consistent
with Kahn and Salk’s designs was commissioned
by the Institute in 2008. The Institute is currently
implementing the plan, which includes the addition of trees

4
and native plantings in the eucalyptus grove, where, over In 2012, the Institute implemented a multimillion-
the last few years, many trees and plantings have died due dollar investment to improve the power and water
to disease and drought. infrastructure of the original buildings.
 110

PROTECTING A MASTERPIECE

a masterpiece
protecting
In 2016, the Salk Institute partnered with the Getty Foundation and
the Getty Conservation Institute to develop a conservation management plan
(CMP). At more than 600 pages in length, the CMP provides a comprehensive
assessment of the Institute’s cultural significance, cautions on issues
that threaten Kahn’s masterwork and details conservation policies and
recommendations designed to protect the structures and the Institute’s
site. The policies set out in the plan provide the Institute’s leadership
with guidance on preserving the cultural significance of the buildings and
site. The CMP was prepared by architects Peter Inskip and Stephen Gee in
association with engineering firm Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc.
and landscape historian Liz Sargent.

Following the completion of the CMP, the Institute launched an

architectural conservation endowment fund to ensure the availability of
resources for ongoing conservation programs.

STRATEGIES TO FUND CONSERVATION EFFORTS WILL HELP WITH ONGOING

MAINTENANCE AND CARE OF THE FACILITY SO THAT FUTURE GENERATIONS
OF SCIENTISTS, STAFF AND GUESTS CAN ENJOY THE SPLENDOR OF THE
INSTITUTE’S BUILDINGS AND GROUNDS IN MUCH THE SAME WAY AS THOSE
WHO FIRST SET FOOT ON THE CAMPUS 65 YEARS AGO.
SALK INTO THE

CENTURY
The Institute was to be a living entity responsive to living
beings who would occupy it, capable of adapting and even evolving
as necessary. It was to be responsive to change, to small and rapid
changes in the short term and to more gradual and greater changes
over the long term.

As the Institute looks to the future, it stays true to the

intentions of its founder and its architect in order to shape and
guide decisions into the next century. The current guardians of
Jonas Salk’s dream are tasked with balancing the needs of a working
facility, accommodating for growth and finding ways to efficiently
manage and expand its footprint while staying in line with the
design and character of the Institute.
THE FUTURE OF
SALK
SCIENCE
above / Shown in the foreground is a rendering of the new Center for
Science and Technology that will be built on the original campus.
Jonas Salk was a scientific visionary who invariably
sought the best path, rather than the easiest one.
Following his incredible success developing a polio
vaccine, he could have focused his new research
institute on infectious diseases, but instead he
chose a broader palette, addressing the most
prominent health problems, including cancer,
neurodegenerative conditions and metabolic
disorders, in addition to infectious diseases.
Salk’s intent went even deeper. Rather than
narrowly studying individual diseases, he wanted
his researchers to illuminate root causes that
could lead to many conditions. He recruited the
best scientists, prioritizing people who were eager
to work across disciplines and gather differing
points of view to illuminate the bigger picture.
This philosophy has produced incredible results.
The Salk Institute is one of the world’s most
prominent biological research institutes, producing
multiple FDA-approved drugs, a number of life
science companies and hundreds of patents. Six
Nobel Prize-winners have served on Salk’s faculty.
The Institute was designed—both structurally and
institutionally—to harness ideas and creativity.
Architecturally, there are few walls between
laboratories, driving a heightened spirit of
collaboration. Labs can be rearranged to implement
new scientific approaches and gathering spaces are
plentiful to allow the cross-pollination of ideas.
There are no departments at the Institute because
Jonas Salk sought to avoid disciplinary silos and
other barriers that keep ideas apart. He wanted all
Salk researchers to have the freedom to explore.
And exploration is what we do. One of our scientists’
defining traits is insatiable, bold curiosity. We
want to understand biology at its deepest levels.
Sometimes, these explorations create whole new
areas of study, illuminating mechanisms that don’t
even have names.
As curators of Salk’s vision, we are always asking
ourselves: How can we do better? What are the
barriers that slow scientific progress, and how can
we remove them?
Sometimes these conversations get quite nuanced.
Salk is an incredibly diverse research institute,
with world experts in biology, chemistry, physics,
cognitive neuroscience,
cancer and many other areas.
This gives our researchers
incredible resources to create
interdisciplinary partnerships
or simply find answers
outside their expertise.
Each scientific discovery
leads to new, more intricate
mysteries that must be solved.
As these questions pop up,
investigators must seek out
new collaborators to answer
them. In some ways, we
take a page from industry’s
playbook: cross-functional
teams that work intensively
to find answers and then
reconfigure into new groups.
So, it’s critically important
for the Institute to constantly
grow its intellectual resources. Information theory
is a perfect example. Because the life sciences
have become increasingly data-intensive, we are
recruiting data scientists, mathematicians and
software engineers to help us analyze information
and design more effective experiments.
we are building the 100,000-square-foot Joan and
Irwin Jacobs Center for Science and Technology.
The new facility will mesh with Louis Kahn’s iconic
architecture and provide new and dynamic
spaces for biologists, neuroscientists, chemists,
bioinformaticians, information theorists, engineers
and others to meet and collaborate.
I am always struck by a line from the Salk Institute’s
mission statement: “small by choice, intimate by
nature and fearless in the face of any challenge.”
These traits were visible even before Salk and Kahn
broke ground. The two spent many hours discussing
the Institute’s design and purpose. Their hard
work and diligence helped invent a new, intensely
collaborative approach to science, one that
research institutes around the world have adopted.
Jonas Salk famously said “our greatest
responsibility is to be good ancestors,” but it works
both ways. We must pay homage to our antecedents,
who built this wonderful scientific institute, as well
as our descendants, who will carry the Salk legacy
into the next century.
Throughout this continuum, the fundamental
principles Jonas Salk helped lay down will always be
with us: hard work, intensive collaboration and
a willingness to overthrow dogma and deliver
scientific truth.

Adding these capabilities gives our researchers

new expertise to move forward. With these tools,
scientists can better separate faint signals from a
cacophony of data noise. Information theorists also
develop novel machine-learning algorithms and
leverage other artificial intelligence techniques to
support better predictions.

Engineering is also an essential resource. Salk

scientists are constantly asking questions that Sincerely,
have never been posed before. Quite often, the
tools they need to answer them don’t yet exist; they
must be made from scratch. Many biologists pick
up these skills on the fly, but having engineers on
faculty vastly accelerates the process. Gerald Joyce, Senior Vice President
and Chief Science Officer
But it’s not enough to recruit new experts—we The Salk Institute for Biological Studies
need to create space for them to work. That’s why
ACKNOWLE
Mid-Century to Next Century: The Salk Institute at 60 was
developed to celebrate and showcase the history, art, science
and architecture that have come to define the Salk Institute
on its 60th anniversary. Creating a book of this nature is a
significant undertaking and not without risk when the subject
is both a world-renowned scientific research institute and
a masterwork of modern architecture. Initially envisioned
as a spiral catalog documenting the highlights of Salk’s
Conservation Management Plan, it quickly became apparent to
the team developing the book that an opportunity existed to
showcase the visually engaging content and design the piece to
fit the subject matter.

We would like to thank the many contributors and supporters

that made this book possible. Many thanks to Salk leadership,
particularly Salk President Rusty Gage and the Board of
Trustees, for their unwavering commitment to the trailblazing
science that is the hallmark of the Institute and for their
stewardship of this icon of modern architecture. Thanks as well
to the numerous scientists and staff who imbue the Institute
with its heart and soul and whose day-to-day work makes the
Institute world-renowned.

This book would not have been possible without the enthusiastic
support of Rebecca Newman, Salk’s vice president of External
Relations, who embraced the vision and championed its
development, understanding the interest the public would have
in such a project. We extend our appreciation to Amy Fouts-
Wampler, senior director of Foundation Relations, for her
efforts to steward and protect this landmark institute; and
to Tim Ball, senior director of Facility Services, for his
invaluable expertise and dedication along with the entire team
in Facilities for the high-quality care they provide to the
buildings and grounds of the Institute.
EDGEMENTS
Mid-Century to Next Century was inspired by the exceptional
work contained in Salk’s Conservation Management Plan,
made possible by the Getty Conservation Institute (GCI),
particularly Susan Macdonald, head of Buildings and Sites;
consultants Peter Inskip + Peter Jenkins Architects (I+J);
and Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc. (WJE). We extend
our gratitude for their dedication and support in facilitating
Salk’s Conservation Management Plan and for supporting efforts
to preserve the architectural integrity of Kahn and Salk’s
iconic collaboration.

The foundational elements of this book were designed with a

reverence for the Institute’s architectural and scientific
significance by Jessica D’Elena-Tweed.

The team of researchers, designers, photographers, writers

and editors include: Steven B. Johnson, Kristina Grifantini,
Liz Hincks, Heather Buschman, Allie Akmal, Brittany Fair,
Victoria Johnson, Curtis Ippolito, Aaron Howard, John McDonagh,
Stephanie Harada, Chris Keeney, Oliver Yambao, Sara Jacobsen,
Amy Cao, Elizabeth Noguera, Mike Jeffs, Kent Schnoeker and Kara
Sjoblom-Bay.

Thank you for your support of the Salk Institute. We invite you
to learn more about how you can play a part in helping preserve
Kahn’s iconic architectural masterwork. Mid-Century to Next
Century was developed and published by the Communications
Office of the Salk Institute. For information, contact
communications@salk.edu.
INDEX
p.23 | On the Shoulders of Giants

ON THE SHOULDERS
OF GIANTS Like people, institutions move forward generation by 35 36 37 38 39
generation. The Salk Institute’s first group of scientists
included Nobel laureates and luminaries who imbued the Institute with
a spirit of self-sufficiency. There were no departments, and faculty were
expected to ask difficult questions and develop innovative ways to find 40 41 42 43
the answers. But they were also part of a greater whole. Like the cells they
studied, these researchers were independent but interrelated.

Today, a new generation of Salk researchers is just as brilliant and driven

44 45 46 47 48
as its predecessors. These scientists are pursuing bold areas of biological
research to solve some of the world’s most pressing problems in climate
change, cancer, aging, neuroscience, genetics, immunology and much more. 49 50 51 52

1 2 3 4 53 54 55 56 57

5 6 7 8 9 58 59 60 61

10 11 12 13 62 63 64 65 66

14 15 16 17 18

19 20 21 22

23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30 31

32 33 34

1. Joanne Chory 18. Todd Michael 35. Pamela Maher 52. Rusty Gage

2. Diana Hargreaves 19. Edward Stites 36. Gerald Shadel 53. Uri Manor

3. Martyn Goulding 20. Katherine Jones 37. Jan Karlseder 54. Dannielle Engle

4. Geoffrey Wahl 21. Janelle Ayres 38. Margarita Behrens 55. Ye Zheng

5. Alan Saghatelian 22. Eiman Azim 39. Dennis O’Leary 56. Greg Lemke

6. Clodagh O’Shea 23. John B. Thomas 40. Nicola Allen 57. Edward Callaway

7. Elizabeth Blackburn 24. Paul Sawchenko 41. Tony Hunter 58. Sreekanth Chalasani

8. Axel Nimmerjahn 25. Martin Hetzer 42. Joseph Noel 59. John Reynolds

9. Samuel Pfaff 26. Kuo-Fen Lee 43. William Brody 60. Pallav Kosuri

10. Christopher Kintner 27. Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte 44. Vicki Lundblad 61. Gerald Joyce

11. Tatyana Sharpee 28. Daniel Hollern 45. Kay Tye 62. Thomas Albright

12. Wolfgang Busch 29. Christina Towers 46. Walter Eckhart 63. Susan Kaech

13. Beverly Emerson 30. Jesse Dixon 47. Reuben Shaw 64. Satchidananda Panda

14. Ronald Evans 31. Christian Metallo 48. Dmitry Lyumkis 65. Roger Guillemin

15. Charles F. Stevens 32. Sung Han 49. Catherine Rivier 66. Joseph Ecker

16. Marc Montminy 33. Terrence Sejnowski 50. Kenta Asahina

17. Suzanne Bourgeois 34. Graham McVicker 51. Julie Law

 120

p.19–20 | Of Pioneers and Precedents Melvin Cohn, 1922–2018

A titan of immune system biology and a pioneering
Ursula Bellugi, 1931-2022
researcher in the field of gene regulation, Cohn joined
Along with research into Williams syndrome and autism,
Salk in 1961 as a founding and resident fellow. He
Bellugi pioneered the study of the biological foundation
was named a professor emeritus of Salk in 2011 and
of language.
maintained an active research group until shortly
before his passing.

Jacob Bronowski, 1908–1974

A British mathematician, Bronowski later turned to
Jacques Monod, 1910–1976
biology to better understand the nature of violence,
A biologist, Monod was awarded a Nobel Prize in
joining Salk as a founding fellow.
Physiology or Medicine in 1965, sharing it with François
Jacob and Andre Lwoff for their discoveries concerning
genetic control of enzyme and virus synthesis. He was
Suzanne Bourgeois, 1932–
named a Salk nonresident fellow in 1968.
In addition to conducting pioneering work on the
regulation of gene expression, Bourgeois authored the
authoritative book on the founding of the Salk Institute.
Renato Dulbecco, 1914–2012
A virologist and Nobel laureate, Dulbecco was a Salk
founding fellow and later served as president.
Salvador Luria, 1912–1991
A microbiologist, Luria was one of the first nonresident
fellows of Salk, and later won the Nobel Prize in
Physiology or Medicine.

p.36 | Neuroscience

Francis Crick, 1916–2004 01

After winning the Nobel Prize for co-discovering the Jin lab. A cluster of basal ganglia output neurons

structure of the DNA molecule, Crick joined Salk and (green) that convey emotion information to the
movement circuit to control action. Dopaminergic
briefly served as president.
neurons (red) are also present in the image, 2019.

02
Leo Szilard, 1898-1964
Azim lab. Inhibitory neuron cell bodies (red) in the
A physicist, Szilard patented the idea of a nuclear
brainstem with their axonal projections (green) onto
reactor with Enrico Fermi and wrote the letter that
the cuneate cells (blue) that transmit touch information,
resulted in the Manhattan Project to build the atomic
2021.
bomb. He was appointed a nonresident fellow of Salk in
July 1963.
03
Pfaff lab. Motor neurons (green) exit the spinal cord
(red) and enter the periphery of the body to connect
Marguerite Vogt, 1913–2007
with muscles, 2019.
A cancer biologist and virologist, Vogt was noted for
her research on cancer at the Salk Institute. In the
early 1950s, she worked with Renato Dulbecco on
methods to culture poliovirus at the California Institute
p.37 | Genetics
of Technology, and followed him to the Salk Institute in 04
1963. She remained active in her lab until her late 80s, Wahl lab. Luminal cells (green) and basal cells (red) in
publishing her last paper in 1998. mature mouse breast tissue, 2019.
 121
05
Shadel lab. Mitochondria (purple) surrounding cell
nuclei (blue) visualized by fluorescence microscopy,
2018.
06
Hsu lab. CasRx (magenta), an RNA manipulation tool
for genetic engineering, in the nucleus of human cells
(gray), 2018.
p.38 | Computational Biology
07
Sharpee lab and Chalasani lab. This image shows a
single sensory neuron in the roundworm Caenorhabditis
elegans, 2015.
08
Shaw lab. Computational analysis revealing targets of
metformin, a medication for type 2 diabetes, 2019.
09
Sejnowski lab. Computational reconstruction of brain
tissue in the hippocampus, 2016.
p.39 | Aging
10
Karlseder lab. During mitosis, a cell’s chromosomes
(blue) rapidly divide. When the ends of chromosomes
called telomeres (green) are no longer protected by the
protein TRF2, the cell receives a signal (red) to undergo
cell death, 2015. Credit: Salk Institute/Waitt Advanced
Biophotonics Center.
11
Hetzer lab. Isotope imaging of different cells inside an
islet of Langerhans within the pancreas. Older cells have a
yellow-to-pink color scheme, while younger cells exhibit a
blue-to-green color pattern, 2019.
12
Gage lab. This image is a composite of induced neurons
(brain cells) from different individuals with Alzheimer’s
disease, 2021.
p.40 | Metabolism
13
Panda lab. A greatly reduced number of tumor cells after
drug treatment. Green color indicates dying cells, 2018.
14
Evans lab. A mouse liver with a “weak” circadian clock,
caused by the targeted deletion of the gene FBXW7, has
disrupted the lipid metabolism program and promoted
fat accumulation, 2016.
p.41 | Cancer
15
Shaw lab. Lung cancer shows normal lung (light purple)
and tumors (dark purple), 2019.
16
Manor lab. A cancer cell labeled for actin, a component
of the cell’s cytoskeleton (red), and mitochondria, the
cell’s powerhouse (cyan), 2020. Credit: Salk Institute/
Waitt Advanced Biophotonics Center.
17
Evans lab. Tumor cells stained with a marker for cancer
(green) appear near normal surrounding cells (red), 2017.
p.42 | Plant Biology
18
Busch lab. Plants (Arabidopsis thaliana) with the
functional GSNOR gene (left three seedlings) grow better
with high iron levels than plants without the functioning
GSNOR gene (right three seedlings).
19
Chory lab. Image of a plant cell. The chloroplasts (green
organelles) and mitochondria (red organelles) appear
healthy. However, the chloroplast on the left of the
image is being selectively degraded and is interacting
with the central vacuole (blue), an organelle that helps
plants maintain water balance, 2015.
20
Chory lab. In the stem of the Arabidopsis plant, the
light-sensitive receptor CRY2 (yellow) spurs a plant to
begin a growth cycle and avoid shade, 2015.
p.43 | Regenerative Medicine
21
Izpisua Belmonte lab. A common genetic mutation
involved in Parkinson’s disease deforms the membranes
(green) surrounding the nuclei (blue) of neural stem
cells, 2012.
 122

22 p.46 | Protein Interactions

Callaway lab. Nerve cells in the mouse brain that
have been labeled with a modified rabies virus, 2013.
Courtesy of Nicholas Wall, Salk Institute.
23
Izpisua Belmonte lab. Salk researchers created kidney
progenitor cells that survive in the lab using 3D culture
and a mix of supporting molecules, 2016.
30
Nimmerjahn lab. In the cortex of a mouse brain,
adenovirus-transduced cells (red) appear among
labeled microglia (dark blue), immune cells found in the
brain and subsets of neurons (light blue), 2017.
31
Hunter lab. Antibodies (green, blue) that can recognize
an elusive molecule (ball-and-stick model) implicated in
some liver, breast and brain cancers, 2021.

p.44 | Immune System Biology 32

Hetzer lab. The localization of Nup98 (green) in the
24 nuclei (blue) of cancer cells. Nup98 is a protein that
Lemke lab. In an inflammatory environment, helps form pores in the nucleus of a cell, 2017.
macrophages (green) engulf dead cells (pink), 2014.
Image Courtesy of Anna Zagórska and Matt Joens, Waitt
Advanced Biophotonics Center.

25
Lillemeier lab. Light-sheet super-resolution imaging was
used to capture the rearrangement of T-cell receptors
from nanometer-scale protein islands after T-cell
activation in mouse lymph nodes, 2016.

26
Lyumkis lab. For almost every atom in the amino acids
(the building blocks of proteins) in this reconstruction,
we can begin to see the full atomic structure, including
oxygens (red), nitrogens (blue), carbons (yellow) and
sulfurs (green), 2018.

p.45 | Infectious Disease

27
Kaech lab. Lung-specific CD8 killer T cells in lung tissue
surrounded by dendritic lung cells. CD8 killer T cells
and dendritic cells are components of the immune
system, 2020.

28
Lyumkis lab. The molecular structure of an HIV drug
(at center) bound to an active site of the HIV intasome
(surrounding structure), the viral machine that allows
HIV to infect human immune cells, 2020.

29
Lyumkis lab. Salk Institute scientists solve the structure
of the HIV intasome, a large molecular machine that
inserts viral DNA into the genomes of its host, 2017.
IS THE
OPPORT
TO DO M
WORK.
TUNITY
MORE