A pioneer in medical genetics, Lewis co-founded the Winnipeg Rh Laboratory to study and eradicate hemolytic disease of the newborn (HDN). Prior to her work, HDN was a major cause of morbidity and death in the newborn period. The Rh Laboratory has the distinction of being one of the earliest genetics laboratories in Canada. Lewis developed and perfected the methodology to detect all forms of Rh-incompatibility and to use this same technique to test the blood of all pregnant women in Manitoba. Lewis received the La Medaille de la Ville Paris for the first international workshop in monoclonal antibodies.
