Francine Michaels
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Doctor Francine Michaels is a medical doctor, currently working at the Beta Site on behalf of the CDC.
History
While stationed at the White Rock Research Station in Antarctica — located at the site where Stargate Command had discovered the Beta Gate — Doctor Michaels was responsible for studying the Ancient found frozen in the ice, which she named Aiyana. Expecting to conduct an autopsy, Doctor Michaels instead discovered that Aiyana was still alive, and managed to successfully revive her. Unfortunately, she was a carrier of the Ancient Plague that had wiped out much of her race and driven them either to Ascension or to the Pegasus Galaxy, which spread to other members of the research team, including Jack O'Neill of SG-1. Aiyana was able to use her healing abilities to cure most of the infected, but the exertion weakened her body's own resistance of the plague, and she died before being able to cure O'Neill — although he was subsequently saved by (temporarily) becoming host to a Tok'ra. (SG1: "Frozen", "Abyss")
Michaels continued her research into the Ancient Plague at the CDC, and was involved in researching other offworld discoveries of potential medical interest, such as the drug Tretonin: capable of replicating the curative effects of a Goa'uld symbiote but with the significant downside of entirely replacing the individual's immune system. While the prospect of implementing Tretonin for widespread use on Earth came with a number of complications — both in terms of the consequences, and the complexity of maintaining the secrecy of the Stargate Program while trying to get an alien-derived medicine approved by the FDA — the SGC had found that Tretonin could serve as a potential replacement for a symbiote in Jaffa, and was already being administered to Teal'c and Bra'tac after the deaths of their symbiotes during a Goa'uld ambush on the Rebel Jaffa at Kresh'ta. Stargate Command and the Tok'ra began investigating the possibility of larger scale production and distribution of Tretonin to the Rebel Jaffa population: something the Free Jaffa Nation, established in the aftermath of the Battle of Dakara, was keen to explore further. (SG1: "Cure", "The Changeling", "Threads", "Avalon, Part 1")
After the arrival of the Priors of the Ori, many worlds that refused to convert to Origin began to suffer from a "Prior Plague" that bore a striking resemblance to the Ancient Plague that Doctor Michaels had previously encountered, leading to the virus being designated PRIOR2 by the CDC, with the Ancient virus being classified PRIOR1 in hindsight. Initial efforts by the CDC and SGC were only able to limit the spread of the plague rather than cure or prevent it; when Lieutenant Benjamin Fischer of SG-6 inadvertently carried the plague back to Earth, PRIOR2 quickly breached containment and the resulting outbreak claimed the lives of three thousand Americans before it could be cured with the assistance of Orlan, a formerly Ascended being. Having been unable to do anything to impact the virus directly, Michaels took it upon herself to spearhead Stargate Command's efforts to make the new vaccine available across the galaxy, via the existing vaccination infrastructure at the Beta Site. (SG1: "The Fourth Horseman, Part 1", "The Fourth Horseman, Part 2")
Michaels remained at the Beta Site after the Battle of P3Y-229, assisting the medical team as the refugee crisis caused by the Ori Crusade progressively worsened. She met on their behalf with representatives from the International Oversight Advisory, petitioning for increased support and funding from the international community for both the refugees and the vaccination program. (SGR: "The Arrow")
Behind the Scenes
Francine Michaels was portrayed by Venus Terzo in 1 episode of Stargate SG-1. She also voiced Jean Grey in X-Men: Evolution, and has appeared on Arrow (also as a Doctor), as well as Continuum, Sanctuary, Andromeda, and Sliders.
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