Francis P. Filice - Academic Career

Academic Career

In 1947, Filice accepted a position as professor of biology at the University of San Francisco, where he would teach for almost 30 years.

Among Filice's scholarly work in the field of parasitology was a study based upon his doctoral research to characterize the life cycle of the medically significant parasite causing Giardiasis.

• Filice F.P. 1952. Studies on the cytology and life history of a Giardia from the laboratory rat. U.C. Publications in Zoology 57(2):53-146 University of California Press: Berkeley.

In the early 1950s, Filice and co-workers investigated levels of amino acids in the body tissues of various marine invertebrates including seastars, sea urchins and spoon worms. They were the first to demonstrate that various marine invertebrates maintain high concentrations of amino acids in their tissues in comparison to vertebrate animals.

• Giordano, M.F., H.A. Harper and F.P. Filice. 1950. The amino acids of the blood of Urechis caupo. Wasmann J. Biol. 8(1):1-7.
• Giordano, M.F., H.A. Harper and F.P. Filice. 1950. The amino acids of a starfish and a sea urchin (Asteroidea and Echinoidea). Wasmann J. Biol. 8(2):129-132.

Later in that decade, Filice embarked on a scientific expedition to Baja California, and he was a leader in the "Save The Bay" organization and movement in San Francisco, which sought to deter City planners from filling in the San Francisco Bay in order to increase development of the Bay Area. In this respect, he published three significant studies in the field of marine ecology:

• Filice, F.P., 1954. An ecological study of the Castro Creek area of San Pablo Bay. Wasmann J. Biol. 12(1):1-24.
• Filice, F.P., 1958. Invertebrates from the estuarine portion of San Francisco Bay and some of the factors influencing their distribution. Wasmann J. Biol. 16:159-211.
• Filice, F.P., 1959. The effects of wastes on the distribution of bottom invertebrates in San Francisco Bay estuary. Wasmann J. Biol. 17:1-17.