Comparative Parasitology 67(2) 2000 - Peru State College

262 COMPARATIVE PARASITOLOGY, 67(2), JULY 2000
worm, Rictularia lucifugus (Douvres, 1956) in the bats. Frank published the description of the new
species in the Proceedings of the Helminthological Society of Washington. He went on to complete
a Ph.D. at the University of Maryland on the microanatomy of Rictularia lucifugus under Professor
Josh Brown in 1958.
In 1953 Frank married Angelica "Kiki" Vlangas, whom he met in the Greek community of
Baltimore. Typical of Frank, he told Kiki on their first date that he was going to marry her. After
working briefly as a cook in a New York diner (and seriously considering staying in the restaurant
business), Frank followed the example of his fellow graduate students Frank Tromba and Bonner
Stewart and obtained a job with the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Frank was hired by Benjamin
Schwartz, Chief of the Zoological Division of the Bureau of Animal Industry, who had obtained
some new money for work on parasites of cattle.
His first assignment was at Tifton, Georgia. Frank worked at Tifton with Harry Herlich, Bonner
Stewart, and Dale Porter from 1953 until 1955 on parasites of cattle. It was at Tifton where Frank
did his landmark work on "The Morphogenesis of the Parasitic Stages of Ostertagia ostertagi"
the "Morphogenesis of the Parasitic Stages of Trichostrongylus axei and T. colubriformis," and
"Keys to the Identification and Differentiation of the Immature Parasitic Stages of Gastrointestinal
Nematodes of Cattle." These papers are standard references, still in use today.
After transferring to Beltsville in 1955, Frank teamed up again with his old pal from graduate
school, Frank Tromba, and with John Lucker on numerous studies on the morphogenesis and development
of nematode parasites of cattle, sheep, and pigs.
During the time Frank was a student at Maryland and later at Beltsville, he, like many of us,
was fortunate to have available the advice and expertise of MayBelle Chitwood. Frank called her
"coach."
In 1959, Lou Diamond, who was then working at Beltsville, invited Frank to try some of his
nematodes in Diamond's media developed for the in vitro culture of protozoa. The success that
they had with these experiments changed the direction of Frank's research. For the next 25 years,
Frank Douvres made breakthrough after breakthrough in successfully culturing important nematode
parasites of large food animals in clear, cell-free media.
In addition to Lou Diamond, Frank credits Paul Weinstein with mentoring his early in vitro
cultivation work. Clearly, however, Frank Douvres became the recognized world authority on the
in vitro cultivation of nematode parasites of animals. He collaborated with Frank Tromba on the
cultivation and the description of developmental stages of parasites of swine, including Stephanunis
dentatus and Ascaris suum, and, with John Lucker, Halsey Vegors, Don Thompson, and later Harry
Herlich, Rob Rew and Lou Gasbarre, on parasites of cattle.
From the late 1960s until Frank retired in 1985, he was assisted by George Malakatis, a worldclass
technician with an international reputation of excellence, earned first in the navy with Bob
Kuntz and Harry Hoogstraal and later at Beltsville with Frank.
In the early 1980s Frank began a short but extremely productive collaboration with Joe Urban
that included numerous papers, perhaps the most significant of which were (1) Douvres and Urban.
1983. Factors contributing to the in vitro development of Ascaris suum from second-stage larvae
to mature adults. Journal of Parasitology 69:549-558 and (2) Douvres and Urban. 1986. Development
of Ascaris suum from in vivo—derived third-stage larvae to egg-laying adults in vitro.
Proceedings of the Helminthological Society of Washington 53:256-262. During this period a distinguished
visiting scientist from China worked with Frank and Joe and was a coauthor on several
of their papers. Dr. Xu Shoutai, Chief, Shanghai Laboratory of Animal Schistosomiasis, spent a
productive 6-month sabbatical with Frank learning his in vitro methods.
Frank credits Dr. A. O. Foster with strong support and encouragement for the in vitro work.
Others who worked with Frank and benefited from his expertise included Lou Gasbarre, Ray Fetterer,
Rob Rew, and Bob Romanowski. Frank asked me to be sure to mention some of the support
staff who made significant contributions to his research, including Ray Rew, Ken Goodson, and
Don Thompson.
Frank retired from the U.S. Department of Agriculture in December of 1985 and became an
international consultant, traveling to Townsville, Australia, where he instructed Bruce Copeman's
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