and PhD in physiology from the University of Minnesota medical school under the mentorship of Professor Maurice B. Visscher, MD,[6] Wood became a key member of a team, working in a laboratory at the Mayo Clinic, tasked with helping military pilots and flight crew survive and function in high G-force environments.

Based upon extensive physiologic testing via use of the human centrifuge installed at the Mayo Clinic, it was determined that blackout and then unconsciousness was caused by reduction of blood flow to the eyes first and then the brain.

The G suit was a garment, produced by the David Clark Company, which has air bladders situated at the calves, thighs, and abdomen of the wearer.

Following World War II, Wood was recruited to participate in what was known as "Operation Paperclip"[12] The goal was to keep the top German scientists away from Russia and working for the United States.

Integral to the work leading to the development of the G suit was the perfection of vascular catheterization methods needed to understand the distribution of blood pressure and flow.

[14][16] Wood's work at the Mayo Clinic lead to the development of many technologies[5] allowing for the assessment of the heart and lungs including dye dilution methods serving to characterize cardiac output,[17] methods for the assessment of central blood volume,[18] the calculation of pulmonary vascular resistance (known as the "Wood Unit" and calculated by subtracting pulmonary capillary wedge pressure from the mean pulmonary arterial pressure and dividing by the cardiac output),[19][20][21] analog subtraction angiography, and eventually the Dynamic Spatial Reconstructor (DSR), a predecessor to modern high speed volumetric computed tomography (CT) allowing for the evaluation of the beating heart and breathing lungs.

Wood was awarded the Medal of Freedom by President Truman for her services as overseas director of the American Red Cross during World War II.

Chester was a teacher and a university administrator; Delbert was, in succession, a lawyer, a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent, and a railway executive; Abe was an internist and founder of a Colorado-based medical clinic.