Don Francis M.D.

[13] epidemiologist, pioneer in AIDS and HIV research[18]

What is Don Francis M.D. known for?

Dr. Donald Pinkston Francis, affectionately known as Don Francis, is an acclaimed American epidemiologist born on October 24, 1942, in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, United States. Redwood High School in Larkspur, California, is proud to count him among its esteemed alumni. Francis had an illustrious career spanning multiple decades, with significant contributions to various fields of epidemiology.

Notably, Francis was an integral part of the team that worked on the Ebola outbreak in Africa in the late 1970s. This pioneering work laid the foundation for much of the current knowledge about this highly infectious and often deadly disease. Later, he shifted his focus to HIV/AIDS research, retiring from the U.S. Public Health Service in 1992 after 21 years of dedicated service.

Throughout his life, Francis has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to studying and eradicating infectious diseases. He played a pivotal role in eradicating smallpox from Sudan, India, and Bangladesh before shifting his focus to AIDS. He also contributed significantly to combating the cholera epidemic in Nigeria in the early 1970s and the smallpox epidemic in Yugoslavia in 1972. His work didn't stop there, as he was an early developer of the Hepatitis B vaccine in the United States and China.

In 1981, Francis embarked on his groundbreaking AIDS research. He was one of the first scientists to suggest that AIDS was caused by an infectious agent and worked closely with the Institut Pasteur that isolated HIV. After retiring from the CDC, he served as an AIDS advisor to the state of California and was also Special Consultant to Mayor Art Agnos in San Francisco.

Francis later joined Genentech, Inc. in his quest to develop an HIV vaccine. After facing some setbacks, he co-founded VaxGen to continue working on vaccines. Even though initial clinical trials were disappointing, he was undeterred and co-founded Global Solutions for Infectious Diseases in 2004, where he served as executive director and principal investigator.

His relentless fight against AIDS was dramatized in the Emmy-winning movie "And The Band Played On." The HBO film, based on a book by San Francisco Chronicle journalist Randy Shilts, featured actor Matthew Modine playing Francis.

Throughout his life and career, Dr. Don Francis has bravely tackled some of the world's most urgent public health issues, combining scientific knowledge with a passion for humanity. His contributions have surely left a lasting impact on global health.