Candace B. Pert is a leading researcher in the field of chemical receptors, places in the body where molecules of a drug or natural chemical fit like a key into a lock, thus stimulating or inhibiting various physiological or emotional effects. As a graduate student, Pert codiscovered the brain's opiate receptors, areas that fit painkilling substances such as morphine. Her work led to the discovery of endorphins, the naturally occurring substances manufactured in the brain that relieve pain and produce sensations of pleasure.

Candace Dorinda Bebe Pert was born in New York City on June 26, 1946, to Mildred and Robert Pert. She went to General Douglas MacArthur High School in Levittown, New York. She attended Hofstra University but dropped out in 1966. That year she married Agu Pert and the couple moved to Philadelphia so that her husband could get a doctorate at Bryn Mawr College. In 1966, Candace Pert gave...