Charles-Émile François-Franck

Charles-Émile François-Franck (7 May 1849, Paris – 8 September 1921, Paris) was a French physiologist.

From 1871 he served as a hospital intern in Bordeaux, later returning to Paris, where he worked as an assistant to Étienne-Jules Marey in the laboratory of pathophysiology at the Collège de France. In 1885 he was named director of the laboratory, and in 1890, attained the title of professor.^[1] Among his assistants at the Collège de France was neuropathologist Gustave Roussy.^[2] In 1887 he was elected as a member of the Académie Nationale de Médecine.^[3]

His research included studies of vasomotor regulation, pulmonary blood flow and investigations involving the cerebral localization of function. He was a pioneer of sympathectomy (interruption of the sympathetic nervous system for relieving pain) and remembered for his usage of cinematography to accurately record body movements.^[4][5]

Selected works

• Recherches sur l'anatomie et la physiologie des nerfs vasculaires de la tête, 1875 – Research on the anatomy and physiology of the vascular nerves of the head.
• Leçons sur les fonctions motrices du cerveau (réactions volontaires et organiques) et sur l'épilepsie cérébrale (preface by Jean-Martin Charcot), 1887 – Lessons on the motor function of the brain (voluntary and organic reactions) and on cerebral epilepsy.
• Fonctions réflexes des ganglions du grand sympathique, 1894 – Reflex functions of the sympathetic ganglia.
• Nouvelles recherches sur l'action vaso-constrictive pulmonaire du grand sympathique, 1895 – New research on pulmonary vaso-constrictive action, etc.
• Cours du Collège de France de 1880 à 1904 (Courses taught at the Collège de France from 1880 to 1904).
• L'oeuvre de E.-J. Marey: membre de l'Institut et de l'Académie de Médecine, etc., 1905 – Works of Étienne-Jules Marey.^[6]

References