Philip Strax (January 1, 1909 - March 9, 1999) was a radiologist who pioneered the use of mammography to screen for early breast cancer. 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 for outstanding contributions to cancer diagnosis or treatment in 1988.
Shapiro S, Strax P, Venet L (1966). "Evaluation of Periodic Breast Cancer Screening With Mammography". Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) 195(9): 111.