The story of pioneering scientist Candace Pert, whose groundbreaking research introduced the world to the mind-body connection, opioid receptors, and Peptide T, as well as her struggle for recognition in a toxic healthcare system. Candace Pert was at the dawn of three revolutions: the women's movement, integrated health, and psychopharmacology. A scientific genius, she was 30 years ahead of her time, advocating a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to healthcare and medicine long before yoga became popular and "wellness" took root in our language. Her bestseller book, "Molecules of Emotion," made her the mother of the Mind/Body Revolution, sparking a paradigm shift in medicine. Deepak Chopra credits her with creating his career.

Candace began her career as an untamed rebel. In 1972, as a 26-year-old graduate student at Johns Hopkins, she discovered the opioid receptor, revolutionizing the field and enabling pharmacologists to design new categories of drugs from Prozac to Viagra and OxyContin. The tragic irony of her discovery, hailed as the first step towards final liberation from heroin, is that it contributed to the emergence of a dangerous epidemic of drug addiction. Facing the greatest public health crisis of the 21st century, Candace was outraged that Hippocrates - "first, do no harm" - would be subjugated to Greed, and she was about to disrupt the abuse of power in her own way.

Later, as Chief of Brain Biochemistry at the National Institutes of Health, Candace created Peptide T, the non-toxic treatment for HIV featured in the movie "Dallas Buyers Club." As the AIDS pandemic raged, causing panic in Reagan-era America, the US government invested vast amounts in the search for a cure, sparking a battle among scientists for funding and power. Having been a victim of competitors with rival therapies, Candace became resolute and was forced to join the black market for Peptide T.

Following a scandalous departure from her tenure at NIH, Candace launched a series of private companies with Michael Ruff, her second husband and collaborator. Naive in the business world, she was hindered by investors who wanted to take control of her discoveries. But Candace also became tainted, believing that her noble purposes would justify dishonest means. Like a mythical hero, she succumbed to a fatal flaw, and her greatest strengths - her unique dedication and blind faith in her ability - proved to be her downfall.

Pages: 304, Year of Publication: 0409, Dimensions: 15.8x15.8cm