Dr Lawrence Plaskett

Dr Lawrence Plaskett graduated from Cambridge University in 1956 as a biochemist, then earned his PhD from University College Hospital Medical School, London, in 1960. He spent five years as a Lecturer in Medical Biochemistry at Edinburgh University Medical School, establishing himself as a specialist in thyroid biochemistry.

He went on to work as a Research Director in the food industry and ran a biotechnology consultancy, advising governments in the UK, EU, and Brazil on bio-energy policy. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry.

What made Dr Plaskett unusual, and ultimately so influential, was that he was a high-level orthodox scientist who chose to move toward naturopathy. In the late 1970s, he turned his attention to clinical nutrition and Chinese medicine, seeking to bridge the gap between hard biochemistry and the holistic tradition of Nature Cure.

He saw that modern science was confirming what naturopaths had long understood, but the two worlds weren't talking to each other. His life's work became building that bridge.