She worked in the mid-twentieth century investigating effects of radiation poisoning in animals and potential treatments.

In the Jim Crow era, these positions were an opportunity for higher, stable pay and for advancement.

She worked in the Health Division and managed the animal farm which supplied the researchers with subjects for radiation experiments.

[4] In 1949, her team, led by Dr. Harvey M. Patt, reported that preemptively treating mice with cysteine provided protection from normally-lethal radiation doses.

The treatment could be delivered orally or by injection in the hour preceding radiation exposure, and led to approximate survival rates of 80% compared to 20% when untreated.