Frank Cockerill devoted many years of his professional life to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. He served two terms as its Chair of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, and as the President and CEO of Mayo Collaborative Services. He did a Residency in Internal Medicine at the Mayo Graduate School from 1978 to 1980, and received a Fellowship in Infectious Diseases there from 1981 to 1982.
The Mayo Clinic, as Frank Cockerill knows, has its origins in 1864, when Dr. William Worrall Mayo settled in Rochester, Minnesota and opened a medical practice. Through the work of Dr. Mayo's sons, that practice began to evolve into the Mayo Clinic, which today employs nearly four thousand physicians and scientists, and some fifty thousand allied health staff. The Mayo Clinic spends more than five hundred million dollars each year on research.
The primary value of the Mayo Clinic is to serve the needs of the patient, first and foremost. Its mission is to inspire hope, and to contribute to the health and well-being of the public. Frank Cockerill has made significant contributions toward that end, not only as an acclaimed microbiologist but through Internal Medicine and Infectious Diseases, which he trained in and practiced for more than ten years. His work won him the Laboratory Public Service National Leadership Award, which recognizes significant contributions to the healthcare of the American public.
The Mayo Clinic has always stressed the value of teamwork, and blending the skills of individual staff members. Frank Cockerill has been recognized for his contributions in this area, too, receiving the Mayo Excellence Through Teamwork Award as the Team Leader of the Anthrax Development Team in 2002.