[3] After fleeing Nazi Germany, Franklin and his family spent a fifteen-month sojourn in Cuba until they were finally able to immigrate to New York City in 1940.
[6][7] In 1955, Franklin started as research associate at the Rockefeller Institute and from 1958 to 1974 served as an assistant and full-time professor of medicine at N.Y.U.
[2] Franklin was said to enjoy activities such as skiing, chamber music, literature, art and even owned a farm in the Berkshires that he routinely visited with his family.
[3] New clinical tools such as the ultracentrifuge and free electrophoresis made it possible for Franklin to separate and study various proteins involved with heavy chain disease.
[3][8][9] Franklin also made significant contributions to our understanding of essential mixed cryoglobulinemia, a medical condition in which the blood contains large amounts of pathological cold sensitive antibodies called cryoglobulins.