Slye, Maud, 1869-1954.

University of Chicago pathologist and cancer specialist, Maud Slye did pioneering work on cancer heredity in mice. She faced criticism from other pathologists and researchers for her contention that heredity played a key role in susceptibility to cancer; her research challenged prevailing notions of cancer as being at least partly caused by contagions. Although her hypotheses about heredity were later shown to be a simplification of the complex role genetics play in cancer susceptibility, her studies were crucial in establishing heredity as a key area for cancer research. In addition to her scientific work, Slye published two volumes of poetry, Songs and Solaces (1934) and I in the Wind (1936).