Franklin Cockerill – Tests for Anthrax

Franklin Cockerill has spent the majority of his illustrious career associated in some way with Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. With Mayo Clinic he served as a Clinical Microbiologist, has been the Chair of the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology and has been the CEO and President of Mayo Collaborative Services, an organization that is the largest for-profit company in association with Mayo Clinical.

Franklin Cockerill

Franklin Cockerill spent many of the early years of his career focused on the study of infectious diseases. The change of professional focus to clinical microbiology is recent. Cockerill imagines himself someday moving to a leadership position with a small startup company in biotechnology, a senior position in a large diagnostics or laboratory testing company.

One of Franklin Cockerill’s greatest contributions to medicine came in 2001. Cockerill headed a team at the Mayo Clinic whose goal was to develop a rapid and easily performed test for the diagnosis of anthrax. After the airline terrorism events of September 11th against the United States, an outbreak of anthrax wreaked fear among US residents, especially on the East Coast. Cockerill and his team were focused on finding a way to accurately and rapidly diagnose anthrax in order to ensure expedient treatment for infected individuals. High mortality occurs in patients infected with anthrax, if they do not receive the appropriate treatment in a timely fashion. The team successfully created the test, making it possible to identify the presence of anthrax in less than one hour. The test became readily available to testing laboratories across the country.

Franklin Cockerill – Appointed by Reagan

In 1987, Franklin Cockerill was presented with an opportunity of a lifetime. The Infectious Diseases specialist who spent time focusing on the newly discovered disease entity, AIDS, was appointed by the then President Ronald Regan as Deputy Director of the US AIDS Commission. Internationally recognized in his field, Cockerill was asked to organize the US effort to investigate the AIDS epidemic that was sweeping the nation.

Franklin Cockerill

The panel was known formally as the “President’s Commission on the HIV Epidemic”. Chaired by Eugene Mayberry, the blue-ribbon panel was created to investigate the spread of human immunodeficiency and the resultant acquired immune deficiency syndrome that was widespread in the United States. This commission was mandated to provide President Reagan with the public health challenges of and possible ways to mitigate the epidemic, including medical, legal, ethical, social and economic impacts. The Executive Order 12601 established the President’s commission.

Franklin Cockerill carried the title of Deputy Director for the commission. The final report in 1987 had 500 recommendations for the President. Ultimately, the President’s Commission on the HIV Epidemic called for government funding of an aggressive biomedical research plan for HIV. President Reagan was widely criticized for taking too long for establishing the commission. The disease was first identified during his first year in office, but by the time the commission began, 20,000 people had died from AIDS. As a result of the final report from the commission, the study of HIV continues today. Researchers attempt to prevent, treat and cure the disease that has taken so many lives.

Franklin Cockerill – Inventor

There are few people in the world who carry the credentials in clinical microbiology like Franklin Cockerill. The world renowned microbiologist has been making a difference in his clinical specialty for years and does not look to slow down anytime soon. His significant knowledge, education and experience in his field is has led to a plethora of patents, licensed technologies and meritorious awards. In 2005 alone, Franklin Cockerill and his research team at the Mayo Clinic invented 14 separate technologies,

Franklin Cockerill

The list of inventions of Franklin Cockerill from 2005 are as follows:

Swab Sample Extraction System for Laboratory Analysis
Detection of Group A Streptococcus from Throat Swabs using Raping Real-Time PCR
Detection of Cytomegalovirus (CMV) DNA in the Clinical Laboratory by Light Cycler™ PCR
Laboratory Diagnosis of Herpes Simplex Virus Infectious in Clinical Laboratory by Light Cycler™
Detection of Group B Streptococcus by Light Cycler™ PCR
Rapid PCR Assay for Staphylococcus meca
Detection of Epstein-Barr Virus DNA in the Clinical Laboratory by Light Cycler™
Real-Time PCR Assay for the Rapid Detection of Bacillus Athracis
Stool Transport and Recovery Buffer
Real-Time Molecular Detection of Bordetella pertussis and Bordetella parpaertussis
Laboratory Diagnosis of Varicela-Zoster Virus
Swab Extraction Tube System II
Real Time Molecular Detection of Vancomycin Resistant Enterococci

He has also authored or co-authored more than one hundred and fifty articles that have appeared in the medical literature. Many of them relate to diagnostic testing for infectious diseases. With his research team, he developed many real-time PCR assays, which have significant advantages over conventional culture-based assays.

Franklin Cockerill: Letters

Franklin Cockerill III MD has thirty-five years of experience as a doctor, where he has made a plethora of significant contributions to multiple practices in the medical field. He has served on executive committees, compiled book chapters, brought many inventions to life, gained multiple patents, helped develop advanced medical centers, and aided people of lesser fortunate areas when they needed it most. Dr. Cockerill has advanced the medical world in a number of ways that will have a lasting effect for years to come. He has also written and been a part of the composition of many professional letters that he shares below.

Franklin Cockerill

Franklin Cockerill’s Letters :

Cockerill FR III, Muller SR, Thompson RL. (Letter) Selective decontamination of the digestive tract. Ann Intern Med 118:825-826, 1993.

Dale JC, Iverson LK, Vetter EA, Contezac JM, Wollan, PC, Cockerill FR III. (Letter) Evaluation of two rapid antigen assays, BioStar Strep A OIA and Pacific Biotech CARDS O.S., and culture for detection of group A streptococci in throat swabs. J Clin Microbiol 33:3365-3367, 1995.

Franklin Cockerill FR III, MacDonald KL, Osterholm MT. (Letter) Management of pharyngeal carriers of group A streptococcal organisms. JAMA 277:1203-1204, 1997.

Dale JC, Wollan P, Cockerill FR III. (Letter) Rapid testing methods for group A streptococcal pharyngitis. JAMA 278:22-24, 1997.

Cockerill FR III. (Letter) Cyclosporosis and raspberries. N Engl J Med 337:1170-1171, 1997.

Cockerill FR III, Schlievert PM, Musser JM. (Letter) Epidemiology of invasive streptococcal infections. J Infect Dis 177:1773-1774, 1998.

7. Cockerill FR. Reply to Weinstein and Reller. Clin Infect Dis 40(1)L202-3, 2005.

Franklin Cockerill’s Invited Reviews and Editorials

Franklin Cockerill III MD is a prestigious medical professional who is known for his brilliance and his many contributions to the field of medicine. Now in 2014, he is taking on new challenges and continues to repeatedly find ways in advancing the medical field. With a career that spans nearly four decades, he has displayed his expertise in many formats, including the reviews of work performed by his colleagues. Below, he shares all of the invited reviews and editorials that he has completed.

Franklin Cockerill’s Invited Reviews

Cockerill FR III. Genetic methods for assessing antimicrobial resistance. Antimicrob Agents Chemother 43:199-212, 1999.

Cockerill FR, Smith TF. Rapid-cycle real-time PCR: a revolution for clinical microbiology. ASM News 68:77-83, 2002.

Cockerill, FR III. Application of Rapid-Cycle Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction for Diagnostic Testing in the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory. Arch Pathol Lab Med 127:1112-1120, 2003.

Cockerill, FR III. Rapid Detection of Pathogens and Antimicrobial Resistance in Intensive Care Patients Using Nucleic Acid-Based Techniques. Scan J Clin Lab Invest. 63(Suppl 239):34-46, 2003.

Cockerill FR 3rd and Smith TF. Response of the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory to Emerging (New) and Reemerging Infectious Diseases. J Clin Microbiol. 42(6):22359-65, 2004.

Franklin Cockerill – Memberships

Throughout his professional career, Franklin Cockerill gained and held memberships with a number of helpful organizations that have served as a resource as well as support group for his success. He attained most of these memberships while working with The Mayo Clinic in Rochester, including affiliations with their Coordinating Committee, Research Committee on Infectious Disease, Library Committee on Laboratory Medicine, Infection Control Committee on Laboratory Medicine, Laboratory Medicine Continuous Improvement Committee, Laboratory Medicine Process Transformation Committee Infection Control Continuous Improvement Task Force, Child Care Task Force, Molecular Diagnostics Working Group, Blood Culture Drawing Blitz CI Team, Clinical Pathology Working Group, Trip Committee, Information Technology Committee, Fee Committee, Leadership Committee, Finance Committee, Biohazards Committee, Education Committee on Infectious Diseases, Research Committee on Infectious Diseases, Liver Transplant Committee, and Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee.

Franklin Cockerill

Franklin Cockerill also has gained memberships with: American Medical Association

American Society for Microbiology; American Association for the Advancement of Science;

American College of Chest Physicians; Internal Medicine Clinical Practice Committee, Mayo Clinic Jacksonville; Clinical Practice Committee, Mayo Clinic Jacksonville; Mayo Foundation System

Wide Research Committee; St. Luke’s Hospital Infection Control Committee; St. Luke’s Hospital Pharmacy and Therapeutic Committee; Mayo Foundation Biohazards General Committee and Executive Subcommittee; Scientific Foundation of Medical Practice;

Committee on Emerging Infectious Diseases, Infectious Diseases Society of America; Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology;

Program Committee International Symposium on Antimicrobial Agents and Resistance

Association of Pathology Chairs; DLMP Finance Committee; AIDS Task Force, State of Minnesota;

and the Ad Hoc Laboratory Medicine Committee, Mayo Clinic Jacksonville.

Path to Success

Franklin Cockerill is a successful microbiologist, pathologist and diagnostic doctor who credits much of his success to an outstanding education. He received his Bachelor’s of Science in Medicine at Creighton University in 1973 and then received his medical degree from the University of Nebraska in 1977. While enrolled in school, Franklin Cockerill displayed a certain level of enthusiasm for his studies that could be found among most future professionals. He graduated from high school as the Valedictorian of his class. While in college, he won the Creighton University Merit Award for ranking in the top five of his class with his consistent 4.0 grade point average.

Franklin Cockerill then went on to complete a number of internships and residencies before launching an incredible career. From 1978 to 1980 he worked a residency in internal medicine at the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine following an internship in surgery at the University of Florida. He also did a residency in Microbiology at the University of Toronto from 1989 to 1990. He then did a fellowship in Infectious Diseases with the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine from 1981 to 1982; and one with The Mount Sinai Research Institute in Microbiology.

Franklin Cockerill’s strong foundation of education gave him strong support while tackling a number of difficult and groundbreaking projects. Over the course of the nearly forty years he invented dozens of tests and practices, contributed to or created hundreds of publications, and even worked on Presidential appointments and other highly demanding yet rewarding positions.