Candace Pert

Candace Pert stood at the dawn of three revolutions: the opioid crisis, the AIDS crisis, and the mind-body movement. Indeed, her visionary work shaped history – for good and, inadvertently, for evil. 

Before there was Bessel van der Kolk, there was Candace Pert, the Mother of the Mind-Body Revolution. Her story forms a launchpad to discuss the most pressing issues plaguing science and healthcare today. 

Pert played pivotal roles in major movements in both science and politics. Namely, she:

• Discovered the opiate receptor (the mechanism by which opioids function in the brain), launching the opioid crisis.

• Proved the mind-body link, launching the field of integrative or functional medicine.

• Created Peptide T, the underground AIDS drug featured in the film Dallas Buyers Club, and then went rogue, becoming a linchpin in the black market for her drug.

Pert was sabotaged by mentors and colleagues keen to profit from her brilliance. But she too became tainted, believing that her noble ends would justify devious means. Like a mythic hero, she succumbed to a fatal flaw, and her greatest strengths—singularity of purpose and blind faith in her own virtuosity—would prove to be her undoing.

CANDACE PERT is a great read for anyone interested in integrative health, mind-body awareness, medical ethics, the bureaucracy of a toxic healthcare system, and a flawed genius whose scandals and breakthroughs shaped history. 

“Exemplary research, balanced accounts and deeply evocative prose… a truly insightful narrative on what it can mean to be a woman at the cutting edge of science.” – The Wall Street Journal

“Riveting biography… nuanced portrait…Readers will be engrossed.” – Publisher’s Weekly

“There is a revolution taking form that is significantly influencing how the Western medical community views health and disease. Candace Pert’s contribution to this revolution is undeniable.” – Deepak Chopra

“Ryckman’s writing is life-like, suspenseful, and creates a roller coaster ride of stakes and unexpected discovery” – Dr. Lisa Miller, New York Times bestselling author of The Spiritual Child and The Awakened Brain