Franklyn G. Prendergast, MD, PhD: In Memoriam (1945–2023)
Authors: Otis W. Brawley
Journal: Cancer Research (2024)

On October 12, 2023, Franklyn G. Prendergast, MD, PhD, died of pancreatic cancer. He was a force in science and medicine and a trailblazer in civil rights. He rose from humble beginnings in Jamaica to be a distinguished physician/scientist and a very successful administrator in one of the nation's most distinguished medical centers.Along the way, he became an idol to young minorities and women in medicine and science. His success disproved naysayers who believed Black people did not have the potential to lead. When counseling young minority physicians and scientists, Prendergast would caution that even today there are some who think of themselves as enlightened who have difficulty accepting minorities and women in leadership.Prendergast graduated with honors from the medical school at the University of the West Indies (Jamaica) in 1968. He was then selected as a Rhodes Scholar and attended Lincoln College, University of Oxford. In 1971, he came to the United States to work at Mayo Clinic as an internal medicine resident. In 1977, he earned a PhD in biochemistry from the joint program at the Mayo Graduate School and University of Minnesota. He immediately joined the Mayo Clinic faculty, specializing in protein chemistry. He became a professor of pharmacology, biochemistry, and molecular biology in 1986 and chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in 1987. He was then named Director for Research for Mayo Clinic in 1989. The following year, he was appointed to the Mayo Board of Governors and the Mayo Foundation. He became the director of the Mayo Clinic Cancer Center in 1995. In 2006, he stepped down as director of the comprehensive cancer center and organized the Mayo Center for Individualized Medicine. He retired from Mayo in 2014.Prendergast also received several honorary doctorates. Among them, from Purdue University and his alma mater, the University of the West Indies. He also received Distinguished Alumni Awards from the University of the West Indies, University of Minnesota, and Mayo Clinic. Prendergast served on the Board of Directors of several companies, among them Eli Lilly, Neubase Therapeutics, Cyclica, Morphimmune, and Medbio. He is especially remembered as a member of the NCI Board of Scientific Advisors and the National Cancer Advisory Board.The National Cancer Institute (NCI) initiated the Cancer Centers Program as a result of President Richard Nixon's National Cancer Act of 1971. Mayo Clinic was one of the first institutions to obtain NCI designation in 1973. By 1995, there were 38 NCI-designated cancer centers. Their directors were and are a prestigious and influential cohort. They have been called "the Senators of American oncology." Until 1995, all directors of NCI-designated cancer centers were White, and almost all were male. That is when Franklyn Prendergast was named leader of the NCI-designated clinical cancer center at Mayo. In 2000, he took the Mayo Cancer Center from an NCI-designated clinical cancer center to the even more prestigious recognition as an NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center. Thus, Prendergast is not just the first Black person to lead an NCI-designated cancer center, he is the first Black director to take a cancer center to the "comprehensive designation."As director of the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center, Prendergast was known for mentorship and "managing by walking around." He would often run into a young scientist in the hallway, stop, and mention that he had been thinking about them and that he had some idea that he wanted to run past them. One now distinguished senior investigator said, "As an early career researcher, this made a huge difference for me to know that the cancer center director remembered my name and took an interest in me."Indeed, one should not underestimate the importance of men and women like Prendergast who demonstrated what Black people and other minorities could do with competence. His opening of minds and his widespread acceptance created opportunities for others. One prominent Black physician/scientist/administrator who directs an NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center said, "We Black doctors think of Frank as our Jackie Robinson."Prendergast was a role model who encouraged young men and women of all races/ethnicities to pursue careers in science and medicine at mainstream institutions. Prendergast was a bit of an enigma in Rochester, Minnesota. When asked by a young Black physician about it being unusual for a Jamaican to settle in Rochester, Minnesota, he said, "It's easy once you get used to the fact that they put white cream sauces on everything." He then laughed and said, "I am talking about more than just food."In a 2021 graduation speech given at the Mayo Clinic Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Prendergast summed up his philosophy of leadership after a life in medicine and decades in one of the nations most distinguished medical institutions. He stressed the importance of mentorship and of creating opportunities for young physicians and scientists. He thanked by name those who were his mentors along the way, freely giving their knowledge, time, and experience. In speaking of his experiences in medicine, he said that one should understand the significance of tradition. "Respect for tradition is one thing, but slavish adherence to tradition quite another. Tradition is vital, but there comes the time when we have to examine the precepts and meaning of a tradition or set of traditions and be willing to change them boldly in the face of new realities." Going further, he said that one should understand the role of dissent in an institution, emphasizing that "opinions that differ inculcate and engender the habit of critical analysis and review." He admonished the graduates and faculty to "teach the art of genuinely solicitous and respectful commentary" and strongly encouraged them to "be involved!"Prendergast is survived by his wife Debbra and his adult children Sean and Kathryn.