Elizabeth Cavert Miller (May 2, 1920 – October 14, 1987) was an American biochemist, known for fundamental research into the chemical mechanism of cancer carcinogenesis, working closely with her husband James A. Miller.

Biography

Miller was the daughter of an economist at the Federal Land Bank in Minneapolis. She studied biochemistry at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

(Bachelor's degree 1941, Master's degree 1943). In 1945 she received her doctorate under Carl Baumann as a Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) Scholar. As a postgraduate, she worked at the

McArdle Laboratory The McArdle Laboratory for Cancer Research is a basic cancer research facility located on the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus in Madison, Wisconsin. It houses the university's Department of Oncology . The staff of the McArdle Laboratory ...

for Cancer Research at the

University of Wisconsin-Madison A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

, where she and her husband (since 1942) James A. Miller studied chemical carcinogenesis. From 1973 to 1987, she was Deputy Director (Associate Director) of the McArdle Laboratory. She was also a professor of oncology at the

. She died of kidney cancer. In 1947, the Millers discovered that an

azo dye Azo dyes are organic compounds bearing the functional group R−N=N−R′, in which R and R′ are usually aryl and substituted aryl groups. They are a commercially important family of azo compounds, i.e. compounds containing the C-N=N ...

could cause cancer by binding to proteins in the livers of rats. In 1949, they showed that the ability of one substance to affect cancer by the action of another chemical influences the processing in the metabolism, and in 1960 they showed the existence of metabolites that were stronger carcinogens than the starting material. These discoveries also had significance for other areas of toxicology. After the discovery of the exact genetic role of DNA around 1953, the Millers were able to detect the carcinogenic effects of many chemicals as a result of their interaction with DNA. After demonstrating in the 1960s that chemical carcinogens could be detected by increased mutation rates, they examined the carcinogenicity of a wide range of substances found in the environment, industrial chemicals, and food. Elizabeth Miller was editor of the

Cancer Research Cancer research is research into cancer to identify causes and develop strategies for prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and cure. Cancer research ranges from epidemiology, molecular bioscience to the performance of clinical trials to evaluate and ...

journal of the

American Association for Cancer Research The American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is the world's oldest and largest professional association related to cancer research. Based in Philadelphia, the AACR focuses on all aspects of cancer research, including basic, clinical, and t ...

(AACR) from 1954 to 1964 . In 1957, she became the first woman elected to the AACR Board of Directors. From 1976 to 1977 she was President of the AACR. From 1978 to 1980 she was on the Council (Cancer Panel) of the

National Cancer Institute The National Cancer Institute (NCI) coordinates the United States National Cancer Program and is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is one of eleven agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ...

. In 1978 she became a member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

and in 1981 she was admitted to the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (abbreviation: AAA&S) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and ...

. In 1980 she was awarded the

Charles S. Mott Prize The Charles S. Mott Prize was awarded annually by the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation as one of a trio of scientific prizes entirely devoted to cancer research, the other two being the Charles F. Kettering Prize and the Alfred P. Sloan, J ...

for Cancer Research with James A. Miller and both received numerous other awards, including the 1975 Papanicolaou Prize and the 1978 Founders Award from the Chemical Institute of Toxicology and the

Gairdner Foundation International Award The Canada Gairdner International Award is given annually by the Gairdner Foundation at a special dinner to five individuals for outstanding discoveries or contributions to medical science. Receipt of the Gairdner is traditionally considered a p ...

. Elizabeth Miller had two daughters with James A. Miller.

References

External links

Biography of James and Elizabeth Miller

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miller, Elizabeth C. 1920 births 1987 deaths Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences American women biochemists University of Wisconsin–Madison faculty University of Minnesota College of Science and Engineering alumni Cancer researchers 20th-century American women 20th-century American people American women academics