Born: 26 June 1946, United States
Died: 12 September 2013
Country most active: United States
Also known as: Candace Ruff, Candace Dorinda Beeb
The following is excerpted from Infinite Women creator Allison Tyra’s book Uncredited: Women’s Overlooked, Misattributed, and Stolen Work.
When she was a graduate student at Johns Hopkins University, neuroscientist Candace Pert discovered the opiate receptor—key to explaining how endorphins and opioids work chemically in the body—and was the first person to isolate the T cell receptor. Pert’s supervisor was given the credit—and the prestigious Albert Lasker Award, with its $250,000 prize money—for her discovery, even though she was lead author on the paper. When Pert wrote a letter of protest to the award committee, he condescendingly responded, “That’s how the game is played.”