Philip Strax was a radiologist who pioneered the use of mammography

Mammography

Mammography is the process of using low-energy-X-rays to examine the human breast and is used as a diagnostic and a screening tool....

 to screen for early breast cancer

Breast cancer

Breast cancer is cancer originating from breast tissue, most commonly from the inner lining of milk ducts or the lobules that supply the ducts with milk. Cancers originating from ducts are known as ductal carcinomas; those originating from lobules are known as lobular carcinomas...

. With co-investigators statistician Sam Shapiro and surgeon Louis Venet he conducted a randomized evaluation comparing outcomes of 30,000 women who received clinical breast exam alone or clinical exam plus mammography. The first results of this study were published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) in 1966. This large and carefully constructed study is the basis for screening mammography performed throughout the world today. It demonstrated conclusively and for the first time that screening mammograms, which are routine periodic mammograms of assymptomtic women, could find breast cancer at an early enough stage to save lives. For this research Dr. Strax and Mr. Shapiro shared the prestigious Kettering Prize

Kettering Prize

The Kettering Prize was given for the most outstanding recent contribution to the diagnosis or treatment of cancer.This award was named in honor of Charles F. Kettering, inventor, former General Motors Director, and pioneer of the General Motors Research Laboratories.Past winners are:*2005 Angela...

for outstanding contributions to cancer diagnosis or treatment in 1988.