1916-

American physiologist and pediatrician who cultivated viruses to combat polio. Earning a Harvard medical degree, Robbins worked as a pediatrician at Boston's Children's Hospital. With Thomas H. Weller and John F. Enders, Robbins grew the poliomyelitis virus in various tissue cultures. The trio won the 1954 Nobel Prize in medicine and physiology because their work enabled the development of a polio vaccine. Robbins also served as dean of the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and as president of the Institute of Medicine.