She developed methods of inducing malignant tumors in the stomachs and intestines of experimental animals and studied the behavior of the cancer cells that resulted.

Stewart also mentions Dunn's discoveries the protein-secreting, plasma-cell tumors that originate in the ileocecal region of mice, a finding that initiated a program of animal research that's led to a better understanding of the fatality of human cancer.

[9] Dunn's research publications published definitive articles on the normal and pathologic anatomy of the kidney, the adrenal gland amyloidosis, congenital and induced ocular lesions, and the spontaneous lesions that accompany the aging process and which constitute the pathologic basis for the so called "geriatric diseases".

[20] In 1958, the National Institutes of Health[21] chose Dunn as one of six members of the delegation of distinguished American women physicians sent to the Soviet Union for the exchange of information and views on science and cancer.

In 1962, Dunn met with John F. Kennedy as a recipient of the Federal Woman's Award for outstanding contributions to the government.

[1] Their son John Thornton Dunn (1932-2004) became a medical researcher prominent in the study of thyroid disorders and public health.