Francis, Thomas, 1900-

Thomas Francis, Jr., 1900-1969, professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan, 1941-1969, was best known for his work in the development of the influenza and poliomyelitis vaccinations. Educated at Allegheny College and Yale Medical School, Francis' work centered around the study of the causes of infectious disease, especially pneumonia, influenza, and poliomyelitis, and the development of serum treatments for these diseases.

The Twentieth Century witnessed a revolution in the manner in which scientific research was accomplished. The solitary figure in an underequipped laboratory gradually gave way to the research team comprised of specialists, established to solve some particular scientific problem, and funded with grants from foundations or agencies of the government. By mid-century, individual discoveries were still being made, but more common was cooperative research, where scientists freely exchanged information and built upon the work of their peers. During the period of Thomas Francis, Jr.'s greatest work, there was now a sense that common life-threatening problems required an all-out team effort and that claims for the discovery were less important than the fact that discovery was made. Leading the way in changing the way epidemilogical research was performed was Thomas Francis, Jr.

Thomas Francis, Jr. was born July 15, 1900 in Gas City, Indiana, the son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Cadogan) Francis. He graduated with a B.S. from Allegheny College in 1921, then received his M.D. from Yale Medical School in 1925. After completing his residency at Yale, he went to the Rockefeller Institute Hospital where he worked in the Clinical Pneumonia Service under Rufus Cole and O.T. Avery. In 1936, he joined the staff of the International Health Division of the Rockefeller Foundation where he established study laboratories to work on the etiology and epidemiology of influenza. In 1938, he went to New York University College of Medicine as professor and chairman of the department of bacteriology.

In 1941, Francis came to the University of Michigan where he served as professor and chairman of the department of epidemiology in the newly established School of Public Health and professor of epidemiology in the Medical School. In 1947, he was appointed Henry Sewell Professor of Epidemiology. Francis remained at the University of Michigan until his death on October 1, 1969.

Francis' career centered around the study of the causes of infectious disease, especially pneumonia, influenza, and poliomyelitis, and the development of serum treatments for these scourges. While at the Rockefeller Foundation, Francis in his research on pneumonia created what he termed a "revolution in immunologic theory" when he demonstrated that antigens that produce antibodies were derived from polysaccharides of the pneumoccus. Prior to then, the accepted belief was that only proteins could function as antigens.

In 1934, Francis isolated the human influenza virus confirming the work of Smith, Andrewes and Laidlaw in England. He subsequently was able to establish the virus in mice and tissue culture. In 1940, he identified and was able to isolate influenza virus, Type B. The importance of his research was widely recognized. In 1941, he was appointed Director of the Commission on Influenza of the Army Epidemiological Board (its name was later changed to the Armed Forces Epidemiological Board). Here he established "listening posts" for the detection of influenza and conducted studies giving evidence that vaccination is effective against the epidemic strains of influenza. First in 1943, he developed a polyvalent vaccine that proved to be highly effective against influenza A in military personnel. Then in 1945, he demonstrated the effectiveness of vaccination against influenza B.

Throughout the 1940s, Francis and his colleagues undertook numerous studies pertaining to the epidemiology and immunology of poliomyelitis. The purpose of this work was to determine the virus' mode of entrance into a community and its spread thereafter. In 1954, the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis selected Francis to head up the Poliomyelitis Vaccine Evaluation Center at the University of Michigan and to test the potency and effectiveness of the inactivated poliommyelitis vaccine developed by Jonas Salk. In what was until then the largest test of its kind, testing 1,800,000 children in forty-four states, Francis demonstrated the vaccine to be safe, potent and effective. On April 12, 1955, with Jonas Salk and Basil O'Connor of the National Foundation by his side, Francis announced to the world that a vaccine for paralytic polio had been found.

Francis was the author of numerous articles and a book on viral and Rickettsial diseases. He was additionally the recipient of various professional awards. For most of his career Francis was generous with his time, serving on the boards of private research organizations, professional organizations, and national and international governmental committees and institutes. A partial listing only includes the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, the National Academy of Science, the Atomic Bomb Casualty Committee, the Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research, and the Vaccine Development Committee.

Francis was a significant figure in the development and testing of vaccines to control the spread of two of the twentieth century's most devastating epidemical diseases - influenza and poliomyelitis. Interested in both theoretical and applied studies, Francis devoted his life to understanding the mechanisms of viral infections, and the development of means of resistance and prevention

From the guide to the Thomas Francis Papers, 1917-1975, 1941-1969, (Bentley Historical Library University of Michigan)