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French, Eric Lancelot (1914 - 2002)

AO
Published Sources
Medical scientist, Veterinary scientist and Virologist
Born: 1 June 1914  Jamestwon, South Australia, Australia.  Died: 12 February 2002  Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
Eric Lancelot French was a virologist who worked in both the human and veterinary disease fields. He was an advocate of tough quarantine and disease control measures to protect Australia's livestock industry and was the first person to isolate and characterise Murray Valley Encephalitis. French was Assistant Chief of the CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) Division of Animal health from 1968 to 1977 and a researcher at the Walter and Eliza Hall Medical Research Institute (WEHI) from 1947 to 1958. While at WEHI he worked on Asian flu, Murray Valley Encephalitis, and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS or cot death). At CSIRO French established Australia’s first laboratory that was dedicated to the study of animal viruses. Over the years he received many honours including honorary membership to the Australian Veterinary Association and to the Australian College of Veterinary Surgeons, honorary doctorates in veterinary science from the universities of Melbourne and Hanover (Germany) and was appointed an Officer in the Order of Australia (AO)

Career Highlights

Chronology
1938 - 1942Senior Laboratory Technician in the Bacteriology Department of the Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science in Adelaide
1942Bachelor of Science (BSc) completed at the ?University of Adelaide
1942 - 1946Lieutenant in the Australian Army Medical Corps
1946Lecturer in Bacteriology at the University of Adelaide
1947Post doctoral studies at the London School of Hygiene
1947 - 1958Scientist at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Parkville, Victoria
1958Established the first animal virology research lab in Australia at the CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation) Animal Health Laboratory in Parkville
1968 - 1977Assistant Chief of the CSIRO Division of Animal Health and Officer-in-charge of the Parkville Laboratories
1976 - 1977President of the Australian Society for Microbiology
1977Retired
1997Officer of the Order of Australia (AO)

 

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Structure based on ISAAR(CPF) - click here for an explanation of the fields.Created: 19 September 2006

Published by The University of Melbourne eScholarship Research Centre on ASAPWeb, 1994 - 2007
Originally published 1994-1999 by Australian Science Archives Project, 1999-2006 by the Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre
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Updated: 26 February 2007
http://www.asap.unimelb.edu.au/bsparcs/biogs/P004741b.htm

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