 He proposed giving liver extract as a nutritional supplement to children with celiac disease, and in 1949 he won the Borden Award in Nutrition for his research in pediatric nutritional deficiencies.Powers presented his ideas on creating residential institutions for intellectually disabled children to Wilbur Lucius Cross, the Governor of Connecticut, which eventually contributed to the creation of the Southbury Training School.Powers served as president of the American Pediatric Society and received the society's highest honor, the John Howland Award, in 1953.