Lab Scientists Under the Microscope: Meet Drew Francis

Move over real-time PCR machines. Make way mass spectrometers. Take a step back DNA sequencers.

In celebration of Public Health Laboratory Appreciation Month, we’re continuing our popular “Lab Scientists Under the Microscope” series and spotlighting the real heroes of laboratory science—the dedicated professionals who make public health laboratories hum.

Every day, these scientists work with dangerous substances and high-consequence pathogens. They connect the dots that link cases and identify outbreaks, keeping us safer from foodborne illnesses, infectious diseases and more. They work weekends, holidays and after hours to prepare samples and run programs so the rest of us can get our test results in a timely fashion. And they do it all with increasingly limited resources and funding.

Each week of Public Health Laboratory Appreciation Month, we’ll highlight one of these unsung powerhouses and give you a glimpse into their lives inside the lab. Read on to meet the scientists!

Drew Francis, Chief, Office of Microbiology and Molecular Diagnostics, Arizona Department of Health Services 

What got you interested in laboratory science?

Studying microbial physiology during my undergraduate degree completely hooked me on laboratory science. Learning how microbes function at a cellular level opened up a whole new world.

If you weren’t a lab scientist, what would you be?

An accountant! I have always been good with numbers and considered getting a degree in accounting. However, once I took my microbiology courses, I decided to pursue a field that I was truly passionate about.

What’s one piece of lab equipment you think is highly underrated? What do you love about it?

The serological pipette. When you think about how scientists used mouth pipetting back in the day, having modern, highly accurate controllers that allow for rapid, repeatable dispensing of large volumes safely is a game-changer we take for granted every day.

What’s your favorite pathogen/substance to work on—and why?

Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It holds a special place for me because it’s where my career in public health began. It’s a fascinating organism—discovered over a century ago—yet its unique waxy cell wall and survival strategies allow it to evade elimination to this day.

The theme for this year’s Public Health Laboratory Appreciation Month is legends. What scientist, whether real-life or fictional, famous or not, do you consider a legend? Why?

Dr. Dana Scully from “The X-Files.” Scully represents the gold standard of science: unwavering objectivity, meticulous methodology and trust in data above all else. As a medical doctor and forensic pathologist, her work centers on isolating unknown pathogens and using lab diagnostics to protect the public from covert biological threats.