January 1938
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt establishes the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis - a unique partnership of scientists and volunteers - to conquer polio.

Comedian Eddie Cantor coins the phrase “March of Dimes,” which becomes synonymous with the Foundation.

First March of Dimes research grant is awarded to Yale University’s Poliomyelitis Unit.

1939
March of Dimes first chapter is established in Coshocton, Ohio.

1941
March of Dimes provides first iron lung to assist polio victims.

1949
March of Dimes selects Dr. Jonas Salk to lead research on classifying polio viruses.

1950
March of Dimes establishes regional respiratory centers to care for polio patients.

1951
With $1 million in March of Dimes support, scientists identify all three polio virus types.

1953
Dr. Salk confirms the feasibility of a killed-virus vaccine for polio.

1954
March of Dimes runs field trials of Salk vaccine with 1,830,000 schoolchildren participating. The test is the largest peacetime mobilization of volunteers in history.

March of Dimes grantee Dr. Linus Pauling receives the Nobel Prize for work that later helps scientists identify sickle cell anemia as a disorder of hemoglobin molecules.

March of Dimes grantees Drs. John Enders, Thomas Weller, and Frederick Robbins receive the Nobel Prize for their work in developing a tissue culture method for growing polio virus.

1955
Salk vaccine is declared "safe, effective and potent."

1958
March of Dimes initiates the first concerted efforts to save babies from birth defects.

1960
March of Dimes establishes The Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, Calif.

1961
Earlier March of Dimes work pays off in the development of the PKU test. This allows some forms of mental retardation to be prevented.

1962
Oral polio vaccine, developed by Dr. Albert Sabin with funding from the March of Dimes is licensed.

March of Dimes grantee Dr. James Watson shares Nobel Prize for discovery of the double helix molecular structure of DNA.

1968
March of Dimes funds the first successful bone marrow transplant to correct a birth defect.

1969
March of Dimes grantee shares the Nobel Prize for work showing, at the simplest level, how genes direct normal development and mutations cause abnormal development.

1973
March of Dimes researchers establish that alcohol consumption during pregnancy causes birth defects.  March of Dimes funds first in utero treatment for a birth defect.
 
1976
March of Dimes calls for creation of a regional system of newborn intensive care units (NICUs) to save sick babies.

March of Dimes grantee shares Nobel Prize for discovering the role of unconventional infectious agents in certain rare degenerative brain disorders.

1978
March of Dimes funds first prenatal diagnosis of sickle cell anemia.

1979
Foundation officially changes name from the National Foundation to March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation.

1981
March of Dimes funds first successful surgery to correct a urinary blockage in an unborn baby.

1982
March of Dimes launches “Babies & You” program to bring prenatal education to the workplace.

1984
March of Dimes funds development of a newborn screening test for biotinidase deficiency, which can cause mental retardation and death unless treated promptly.

March of Dimes initiates program to warn women that Accutane, a prescription drug for acne, may cause serious birth defects.

1985
The March of Dimes funds research leading to the use of surfactant to treat respiratory distress syndrome(RDS).

An early recipient of  March of Dimes starter research grant shares Nobel Prize for his innovative research on familial hypercholesterolemia.

1989
March of Dimes grantee performs the first in utero surgery to repair a diaphragmatic hernia in an unborn baby.

1990
March of Dimes grantee identifies a protein that seems to play a key role in the development of Type I (juvenile) diabetes.

1991
March of Dimes grantees identify genes responsible for Marfan syndrome -- an inherited disorder of connective tissue, and fragile X syndrome -- the most common known familial cause of mental retardation.

1992
March of Dimes grantee locates a gene connected with 70 to 80 percent of cases of acute leukemia in infants.

1993
March of Dimes grantees clone gene responsible for X-linked adrenoleukodystrophy – a rare and often fatal hereditary disease characterized by adrenal failure and paralysis.

March of Dimes introduces research ambassadors, the first Americans to undergo gene therapy, a procedure based on years of Foundation research.

1994
March of Dimes launches nationwide campaign urging women to take the B vitamin folic acid to help prevent neural tube birth defects.

1995
March of Dimes funds research showing that treating certain infections with antibiotics reduces the risk of preterm delivery.

Two researchers, funded in part by the March of Dimes, share Nobel Prize for research on fruit flies that identified master genes that control the early structural development of the body.

1996
March of Dimes-supported research on nitric oxide leads to a new treatment to save premature babies from persistent pulmonary hypertension, a deadly lung disorder.

FDA approves fortification of enriched grain products with folic acid, following three years of advocacy efforts by the March of Dimes.

March of Dimes presents its first Prize in Developmental Biology.

1997
March of Dimes grantee identifies a gene for Alagille syndrome, a rare inherited disorder that causes abnormalities in different parts of the body.

March of Dimes volunteers help secure  passage of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (S-CHIP), ensuring healthcare coverage for up to 5 million children.

1998
March of Dimes volunteers help secure passage of the Birth Defects Prevention Act, establishing a nationwide network of birth defects monitoring and research programs.

The March of Dimes launches a three-year, $10-million campaign to fight spina bifida and related birth defects by urging all women to take folic acid.

March of Dimes research leads to one of the first successful surgeries to treat spina bifida before birth.

1999
A March of Dimes grantee successfully treats hemophilia in mice in one of the first examples of a complete cure of a genetic disease through gene therapy.

March of Dimes grantees successfully use gene therapy to treat hemophilia and retinitis pigmentosa in the lab.
 
2000
March of Dimes helps enact Children's Health Act, creating a National Center on Birth Defects and Developmental Disabilities and to help states expand newborn screening.

2003
March of Dimes launches a national campaign to fight premature birth, the leading cause of newborn death.

2005  
The North Building at The Salk Institute for Biological Studies is dedicated to March of Dimes volunteers, as part of the 50th anniversary of the polio vaccine.

2006
March of Dimes grantees found two different inherited traits. One that causes decreased production of protein and collagen which increase the risk of preterm rupture of membrane. Secondly, a genetic variant with significant association with Preeclampsia.

March of Dimes launches online curriculum with comprehensive resource on preterm delivery.

2008
March of Dimes announces 2008 Prematurity Research Initiatives. Foundation has committed $11 million to prematurity research since 2005.

The Nobel Laureates

Each year, individuals who have “conferred the greatest benefit to mankind” are awarded the world-renowned Nobel Prize.  Over the past five decades, 10 won the Nobel Prize for research funded in part by the March of Dimes.

1954 Linus Pauling, Ph.D., Chemistry
Discovered relationship between molecular structure and human diseases.

1954 John F. Enders, Ph.D, Thomas Weller, M.D. and Frederick Robbins, M.D.,
Physiology or Medicine.
Developed a tissue culture method for growing poliovirus.

1962 James D. Watson, Ph.D., Physiology or Medicine
(Shared with Francis H.C. Crick, Ph.D. and Maurice H.F. Wilkins, Ph.D.)
Identified the structure of DNA as a double helix.

1969 Max Delbruck, Ph.D., Physiology or Medicine
(Shared with Alfred D. Hershey, Ph.D. and Salvador E. Luria, M.D.)
Showed, at the simplest level, how genes direct normal development and mutations cause abnormal development.

1976 D. Carleton Gajdusek, M.D., Physiology or Medicine
(Shared with Baruch Blumberg, Ph.D.)
Discovered the role of unconventional infectious agents in certain rare
Degenerative brain disorders.

1985 Joseph L. Goldstein, M.D., Physiology or Medicine.
(Shared with Michael S. Brown, M.D.)
Identified cellular cause of familial hypercholesterolemia, which permits buildup of cholesterol in the blood.

1995 Edward B. Lewis, Ph.D., and Eric F. Wieschaus, Ph.D., Physiology or Medicine
(Shared with Christiane Nusslein-Volhard, Ph.D.)
Identified in fruit flies master genes that control early structural development of the body.