hiː wˈɜːkt æz ɐ pˈoʊstdəktɚɹəl fˈɛloʊ ɪnðə lˈæb ʌv lˈɪnəs pˈɔːlɪŋ æt kˈɔltɛk dˈʊɹɹɪŋ nˈaɪntiːnhˈʌndɹɪd fˈoːɹɾi sˈɛvən nˈaɪntiːnhˈʌndɹɪd fˈoːɹɾi ˈeɪt, wˈɛɹ hiː, ɐlˈɔŋ wɪð hˈɑːɹvi ɪtˈɑːnoʊ, kˈoʊdɪskˈʌvɚd ðə bˈeɪsɪs ʌv ɐbnˈoːɹməl hˌiːməɡlˈoʊbɪn ɪn sˈɪkəlsˈɛl ɐnˈiːmiə, ɹᵻpˈoːɹɾᵻd ɪnðə fˈeɪməs pˈeɪpɚ "sˈɪkəl sˈɛl ɐnˈiːmiə, ɐ məlˈɛkjʊlɚ dɪzˈiːz".
He worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Linus Pauling at Caltech during 1947–1948, where he, along with Harvey Itano, co-discovered the basis of abnormal hemoglobin in sickle-cell anemia, reported in the famous paper "Sickle Cell Anemia, a Molecular Disease".