Yvette Francis-McBarnette

Yvette Francis-McBarnette (May 10, 1926 – March 28, 2016) was an American pediatrician and a pioneer in treating children with sickle cell anaemia.

Early life and education Francis-McBarnette was born in Kingston, Jamaica on 10 May 1926 to schoolteachers Clarence and Sarah Francis. The family moved to New York City when she was a toddler. She graduated from Hunter College High School at the age of 14, then she enrolled at Hunter College and completed a bachelor's degree in chemistry, followed by a master's degree in chemistry at Columbia University. In 1946, aged 19, she enrolled at the Yale School of Medicine - she was the second black woman at the school.

She returned to school in 1978, to complete a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in hematology at Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center. This allowed her to continue treating patients that she had originally seen in her pediatric sickle cell anemia screening program.

Selected publications

Francis, Yvette Fay. "Sickle Cell Disease." Collier's Encyclopedia 1997 ed.