Miriam Posner Finkel


Miriam Dorothy Finkel was a radiobiologist who made significant contributions to molecular biology. Finkel lent her name to the Finkel-Biskis-Jinkins or FBJ virus.

Biography

Miriam Dorothy Posner was born on 22 January 1916 in Chicago, Illinois to parents that had emigrated from Russia. Her parents were Jacob Posner and Harriet M. Posner. She married Asher Finkel. Finkel died on 20 August 1999 at home in Tucson, Arizona.
Finkel grew up in Davenport, Iowa. She attended the University of Chicago and in 1938 earned a B.S. in zoology. She worked as a laboratory instructor at Wilson Junior College in Chicago while she pursued doctoral studies and coursework in zoology. In 1944, she was awarded a Ph.D. from the University of Chicago.
Finkel worked at the Metallurgical Laboratory and the Clinton Engineer Works as a radiobiologist. For the majority of her career, she worked at Argonne National Laboratory. She was a member of the American Biological Society.
Finkel made significant contributions to several radiological health standards including work on the basis of relative biological effectiveness for internal exposure to radioisotopes. Through her work and that of her colleagues, she was able to isolate the murine osteogenic sarcoma virus, now known as the Finkel-Biskis-Jenkins or FBJ virus. This and other pursuits resulted in discoveries in viral-induced tumors and resulted in the molecular biological tool, the FOS gene.

Publications

Dissertation