On behalf of the Rockefeller Foundation, Dr. Downs visits various countries where there is RF involvement; where there is the potential for RF involvement; and/ or where there is epidemiological research relevant to Dr. Down's expertise being conducted. The diary entries comprise a travelogue of the cities, institutions, and laboratories that Dr. Downs surveys and also include descriptions of the personnel he meets as well as their respective research. The countries included on Dr. Down's tour are Egypt, India, Ceylon, Singapore, Malaya, Thailand, Philippines, Great Britain, Nigeria, Italy and Jamaica. While in Jamaica, Dr. Downs is involved in discussions regarding the future of the Trinidad Regional Virus Laboratory. The plan is to transfer the laboratory, personnel included, to the University College of the West Indies. Additionally, while in Jamaica, an epidemic of Eastern Equine Encephalitis unfolds. Dr. Downs describes this event in detail in the entries spanning his visit.

Now assigned to the RF office in New York, Dr. Downs apportions his time between administrative duties related to the public health activities at the RF and the RF virus laboratory. Entries describe scientific reports that Dr. Downs submits; epidemiological conferences attended; personnel with whom he has correspondence; and any institutions—both private and public—that he or the RF collaborates with on matters pertaining to public health. During this time period, many of Dr. Downs' entries are written from the Yale School of Epidemiology and Public Health: a joint establishment of Yale University and the RF. Trips include official visits to the RF programs located in Cali, Colombia, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Entries record the status and progress of the aforementioned programs.

Apportioning time between the RF office in New York and the Yale office in New Haven, Dr. Downs tends to administrative duties pertaining to the creation of the virus laboratory at the Yale School of Epidemiology and Public Health. Included in the entries is a description of the agreement between Yale University and the Rockefeller Foundation regarding the establishment on the laboratory. All other entries include records of interviews and meetings; summaries of conferences and discussions had with colleagues in the field; and notes on research being conducted at the Yale virus laboratory. Entries describing Dr. Downs' travels to India, Thailand, Australia, Egypt, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Japan are also included and summarize the status and progress of epidemiologically related research, programs, and institutions abroad.

Entries include descriptions of Dr. Downs' visits to international virus laboratories; details on working conferences that he attended in Tokyo, Japan through the Japan-U.S. cooperative Medical Science Program; details on conferences he attended that were hosted by the Armed Forces Epidemiological Board; and notes on the Annual Meeting of the American Society of Tropical Medicine in San Francisco. The following countries, and their respective programs, were visited by Dr. Downs: Trinidad (Trinidad Regional Virus Laboratory), Suriname, French Guiana (Institut Pasteur), Brazil (Belem Virus Laboratory), Colombia (University of Valle), and Venezuela (Instituto Venozolano de Investigations Cientificas).

Entries for this year include descriptions of Dr.Downs' administrative work at the Yale Arbovirus Research Institute; a series of lectures he gave at the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health; visits to virus laboratories—both with and without RF funding—in Senegal (Institut Pasteur Dakar), Nigeria, Uganda, Ghana, and Colombia; and a series of meetings that Dr.Downs attended in East Africa, Trinidad, and Barbados. Entries from New Haven include a draft of the mission statement of the Yale School of Public Health.