John Salamone
John B. Salamone is an American public policy advisor, vaccine safety advocate and fundraiser for charitable organizations.
He is best known for his leadership at the National Italian American Foundation, his advocacy for safer vaccination policies in the United States and his efforts to raise funds for non-profit organizations.
Early life and career
Salamone holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Journalism and Government from the University of Maryland. Salamone began his career in Washington, D.C. in 1970 as a special assistant in the US Congress. After a decade, he joined the U.S. Department of Justice during the Reagan Administration, serving as Congressional Liaison at the United States Immigration and Naturalization Service, where he worked on immigration policy with the White House, Congress, and the business community.National Italian American Foundation
In 1984, Salamone moved to the National Italian American Foundation, a nonprofit organization providing education and scholarship programs as well as promoting Italian American heritage and U.S.–Italy relations. Under his leadership, NIAF's revenues doubled in his first year, and he transformed the Foundation’s Washington Gala into one of the nation’s most successful annual events, raising millions annually for scholarships and cultural programs. He also expanded the Foundation’s endowment through direct mail campaigns, major gifts, and product endorsements. He retired from NIAF as Executive Director in 2008.In 2008, Salamone was awarded the Commendatore Ordine al Merito della Repubblica Italiana, Italy’s highest civilian honor, presented by Ambassador Giovanni Castellaneta.
Vaccine safety advocacy
Salamone became a vaccine safety advocate after his son, David, contracted vaccine-associated paralytic polio from the oral polio vaccine in 1990. His advocacy contributed to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention replacing OPV with the inactivated polio vaccine in 2000, reducing VAPP cases in the United States. David Salamone died in 2018 and in 2020 the CDC dedicated an exhibition to the efforts he and his father made to promote safer vaccines.Salamone co-founded the advocacy group Informed Parents Against Vaccine-Associated Paralytic Polio, later known as the Vaccine Associated Polio Society. His efforts are also chronicled in Paul Offit’s book ''Deadly Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All as well as in the film “Jabbed: Love, Fear and Vaccines”.''
Federal appointments and honors
In 2005, President George W. Bush appointed Salamone to the Board of Trustees of the Christopher Columbus Fellowship Foundation. He was also appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services as the first laymen to serve on the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, the CDC committee that provides guidance and recommendations for US vaccine policy.He has received several honors, including the Ellis Island Medal of Honor. In 2007, he was invested as a Knight within the Order of St. John.