Elizabeth C. Miller and James A. Miller are known for their ground-breaking research into the mechanism of chemical carcinogenesis. The Millers' discoveries laid the foundations for understanding the metabolic interactions with carcinogen ic chemicals that produce cancer in experimental animals. Their work sparked intensive research into carcinogenesis and public interest in carcinogens.

James A. Miller was born in 1915 in Dormont, Pennsylvania, a small town just south of Pittsburgh. His father, John, was the manager of circulation for the Pittsburgh Press, and his mother, Emma Stenger, was a homemaker. Two brothers died in their youth. In 1929, his mother died and his father became seriously ill. "All the children had been taught to earn their keep," Miller told Laura Newman in an interview. "It fell to the four boys to stick together, absent mother and father." Despite the economic pressures, Miller completed high school in 1933, gaining high grades in science...