In memoriam : Miriam Dorothy (Posner) Finkel (1916-1999)

Miriam P. Finkel, pioneer radiobiologist, passed away on August 20, 1999, at her home in Tucson, AZ. She was born on January 22, 1916, in Chicago to Russian immigrants. She spent much of her youth in Davenport, IA. She returned to Chicago for her college education, and received a B.S. in zoology in 1938 from the University of Chicago. While continuing her formal education in zoology, Miriam served as a laboratory instructor at Wilson Junior College. She received her Ph.D. in 1944 from the University of Chicago. She began her scientific career at the dawning of the nuclear age and seized upon the scientific opportunity present in the new field of radiobiology to be a life-long contributor to the understanding of the biological effects of radiation. Her technical insights and discoveries helped form the foundation for many of the health standards (i.e. permissible levels of internal radionuclide exposure) in use today. She also made a significant contribution to the field of molecular biology. Her isolation of a murine osteogenic sarcoma virus, the Finkel-Biskis-Jenkins or FBJ virus, led to fundamental discoveries in viral-induced tumors and ultimately provided the now universally used molecular biological tool, the FOS gene.