[1] In the 1950s, Avery's pioneering research efforts helped lead to the discovery of the main cause of respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) in premature babies: her identification of surfactant led to the development of replacement therapy for premature infants and has been credited with saving over 830,000 lives.

Her father owned a manufacturing company in Philadelphia and her mother was vice-principal of a high school in Newark, New Jersey.

[4] An early inspiration was pediatrician Emily Bacon, who was a professor of pediatrics at Woman's Medical College.

"She kindly reached out to me in many ways, and I saw her life as more exciting and meaningful than most of the women I knew," Avery has recalled.

[5] Bacon's single, career driven lifestyle was inspiring to Avery and she wanted to lead a similar life.

I’ve been to the best school I could get into.”[7] Avery obtained several mentors during her time at Johns Hopkins, which included Dr. Helen Taussig and Dr. Harriet Guild.

Avery returned to Johns Hopkins for her internship and residency, and then moved to Boston in 1957 for a research fellowship in pediatrics at Harvard Medical School.

At Harvard, Dr. Avery made a major discovery while comparing the lungs of infants who had died of RDS to those of healthy animals.

Dr. Avery's observation formed the basis of a breakthrough paper published in the American Journal of Diseases of Children in 1959.

In 1960, Avery became an assistant professor of pediatrics at Johns Hopkins University and pediatrician in charge of newborn nurseries.

After Avery stepped down, she traveled to many countries with UNICEF to promote oral rehydration therapy and polio vaccination.