Francis Gilman Blake
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Francis Gilman Blake (22 February 1887–1 February 1952) was an American immunologist. He served as dean of the
Yale University School of Medicine The Yale School of Medicine is the medical school of Yale University, a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was founded in 1810 as the Medical Institution of Yale College and formally opened in 1813. It is the sixth-oldest m ...
, president of the
American Association of Immunologists American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...
, and physician-in-chief of the
Yale–New Haven Hospital Yale New Haven Hospital (YNHH) is a 1,541-bed hospital located in New Haven, Connecticut. It is the second-largest hospital in the United States and one of the largest in the world. It is the primary teaching hospital for the Yale School of Med ...
.


Early life and family

Blake was a native of the small
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...
town of Mansfield Valley. His father, a mining engineer, died when he was three years old. He spent much of his childhood in
Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
, where he was an enthusiastic observer of nature; at the age of 15, along with one of his brothers, he submitted an ornithological paper which was published in ''
The Auk ''Ornithology'', formerly ''The Auk'' and ''The Auk: Ornithological Advances'', is a peer-reviewed scientific journal and the official publication of the American Ornithological Society (AOS). It was established in 1884 and is published quarterly ...
'' in 1902. Paul, John Rodman
"Francis Gilman Blake, 1887-1952"
National Academy of Sciences
He received his A.B. from Dartmouth in 1908, after which he spent a year as a tutor to save enough money to pay for his further education. He then enrolled in
Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...
, where he received his MD in 1913. While completing his medical internship at Peter Bent Brigham, he met Dorothy P. Dewey, a nurse; they married in 1916 and had three sons."Guide to the Francis Gilman Blake Papers"
Yale University Library The Yale University Library is the library system of Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. Originating in 1701 with the gift of several dozen books to a new “Collegiate School," the library's collection now contains approximately 14.9 m ...
During his time at Harvard, he acquired a deep interest in infectious diseases and applied microbiology, reflecting the influence of
Theobald Smith Theobald Smith Royal Society of London, FRS(For) HFRSE (July 31, 1859 – December 10, 1934) was a pioneering epidemiology, epidemiologist, bacteriologist, pathology, pathologist and professor. Smith is widely considered to be America's first int ...
, who Blake much admired.


Academic career

Blake joined the faculty of the
University of Minnesota Medical School The University of Minnesota Medical School is a medical school at the University of Minnesota. It is a combination of three campuses located in Minneapolis, Duluth, and St. Cloud, Minnesota. The medical school has more than 17,000 alumni as of 2 ...
in 1917, and the
Rockefeller Institute of Medical Research The Rockefeller University is a private biomedical research and graduate-only university in New York City, New York. It focuses primarily on the biological and medical sciences and provides doctoral and postdoctoral education. It is classified ...
in 1919."Francis G. Blake"
American Association of Immunologists
Also during this time, he accepted a commission with the
Medical Reserve Corps The Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) is a network in the U.S. of community-based units initiated and established by local organizations aimed at meeting the public health needs of their communities. It is sponsored by the Administration for Strategic ...
, entering as a First Lieutenant in January 1918 and promoting to Captain within three months. He was part of a commission studying the transmission of influenza within army camps, which was a significant problem at the time. He spent 20 months working with Major Russell Cecil at the Army Medical School, primarily on the production and prevention of bacterial pneumonia in monkeys, the end result being a series of ten papers in the
Journal of Experimental Medicine ''Journal of Experimental Medicine'' is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal published by Rockefeller University Press that publishes research papers and commentaries on the physiological, pathological, and molecular mechanisms that encompass ...
. In 1921, he became the John Slade Ely Professor of Medicine at Yale, where he was named
Sterling Professor Sterling Professor, the highest academic rank at Yale University, is awarded to a Academic tenure in North America, tenured faculty member considered the best in their field. It is akin to the rank of distinguished professor at other universities. ...
of Medicine in 1927. At the time of his appointment, he was one of the youngest full professors of medicine in Yale's history. He was dean of Yale's medical school from 1940 until 1947. He was the physician-in-chief of Yale-New Haven Hospital for more than thirty years, from 1921 until his death in 1952. He performed significant research in epidemic diseases and some of the first laboratory and clinical tests on
penicillin Penicillins (P, PCN or PEN) are a group of beta-lactam antibiotic, β-lactam antibiotics originally obtained from ''Penicillium'' Mold (fungus), moulds, principally ''Penicillium chrysogenum, P. chrysogenum'' and ''Penicillium rubens, P. ru ...
. He was the doctoral advisor of Thomas Francis Jr., who in turn was the advisor of
Jonas Salk Jonas Edward Salk (; born Jonas Salk; October 28, 1914June 23, 1995) was an American virologist and medical researcher who developed one of the first successful polio vaccines. He was born in New York City and attended the City College of New ...
. Blake joined the American Association of Immunologists in 1921 and served as its president from 1934-5, after which he was one of its councillors from 1935-9. He was part of the board of editors of The Journal of Immunology from 1936–42, and an associate editor from 1943-52.


Honors and awards

Blake received numerous honors over the course of his career, including the
Charles V. Chapin Charles Value Chapin (January 17, 1856 – January 31, 1941) was an American pioneer in public health research and practice during the Progressive Era. He was superintendent of health for Providence, Rhode Island between 1884 and 1932. He es ...
Award (1945), U.S. Typhus Commission Medal (1945), and
Medal for Merit The Medal for Merit was the highest civilian decoration of the United States in the gift of the president. Created during World War II, it was awarded by the president of the United States to civilians who "distinguished themselves by exceptiona ...
(1946). He was made a member of the
National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the ...
in 1947 and a fellow in 1948, and became a member of the
American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...
in 1949. His first alma mater, Dartmouth, awarded him an honorary Sc.D. degree in 1936.


Death and named award

In January 1952, Blake took a leave of absence to become the civilian technical director of the U.S. Army's Medical Research and Development Board. He did not hold the position long; at the end of that month he was admitted to Walter Reed Hospital for the treatment of a coronary occlusion, and on 1 February, he died. After his death, an award was established in his honor. The Francis Gilman Blake Award is an annual award to the Yale medical faculty member designated by the graduating class as the most outstanding teacher."The Francis Gilman Blake Award"
Yale J Biol Med. 1952 Jun; 24(6): 577
Some of the notable recipients have included
Hal Blumenfeld Hal Blumenfeld (born March 28, 1962) is a professor of neurology, neuroscience, and neurosurgery at Yale University. His focus is on brain mechanisms of consciousness and on altered consciousness in epilepsy. As director of the Yale Clinical Neur ...
, Lynn D. Wilson, Robert A. Chase, and Alvan Feinstein.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, Francis Gilman 1887 births 1952 deaths American public health doctors Medal for Merit recipients American medical researchers 20th-century American physicians Yale University faculty Yale Sterling Professors Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Members of the American Philosophical Society Dartmouth College alumni Harvard Medical School alumni