Candace Pert

Genius, Greed, and Madness in the World of Science

By: Pamela Ryckman

Narrated by: Jess Nahikian, Pamela Ryckman

The story of maverick scientist Candace Pert, whose groundbreaking research introduced the world to the mind-body connection, opioid receptors, and peptide T, and her fight for recognition in a toxic healthcare system.

Candace Pert stood at the dawn of three revolutions: the women’s movement, integrative health, and psychopharmacology. A scientific prodigy, she was 30 years ahead of her time, preaching a holistic, interdisciplinary approach to healthcare and medicine long before yoga hit the mainstream and “wellness” took root in our vernacular. Her bestselling book Molecules of Emotion made her the mother of the Mind/Body Revolution, launching a paradigm shift in medicine. Deepak Chopra credits her with creating his career, and he said as much in his eulogy at her funeral.

Candace began her career as an unbridled maverick. In 1972, as a 26-year-old graduate student at Johns Hopkins, she discovered the opiate receptor, revolutionizing her field and enabling pharmacologists to design new classifications of drugs from Prozac to Viagra to Percocet and OxyContin. The tragic irony of her breakthrough, touted as the first step to end heroin addiction, is that it helped spawn a virulent epidemic of drug dependence. Facing the largest public health crisis of the 21st century, Candace was incensed that the Hippocratic oath—“first, do no harm”—would succumb to greed, and as witness to this abuse of power, she was one of few scientists courageous enough to protest.

Later, as Chief of Brain Biochemistry at the National Institutes of Health, Candace created Peptide T, the non-toxic treatment for HIV featured in Dallas BuyersClub. As the AIDS pandemic raged, triggering panic across Reagan-era America, the U.S. government poured massive amounts of money into finding a cure, sparking a battle among scientists for funding and power. Bested by rivals with competing drugs yet desperate to help, Candace went rogue, becoming a lynchpin in the black market for Peptide T.

After a scandalous departure from her tenured position at the NIH, Candace launched a series of private companies with Michael Ruff, her second husband and collaborator. Naïve to the world of business, she was manipulated by investors keen to wrest control of her discoveries. But Candace 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.

©2023 Pamela Ryckman (P)2023 Hachette Books

Fascinating and important story!

Thank you, Pamela Ryckman, for bringing us the story of this brilliant and complicated woman. Candace Pert chronicles the life of a scientist whose contributions from past decades dealt with issues that remain extremely relevant today: opiates, HIV/AIDS treatment, and the mind/body connection to name the most notable. While this body of work is a story in its own right, Ms. Ryckman has also revealed a fascinating character in Candace Pert. While she fought for the respect she deserved in a male dominated world of notable scientists, she juggled marriages, children, and bipolar disorder. This thoroughly researched book balances the science and facts of the story with beautiful and at times heart-breaking descriptions of the central figure. The book also exposes the dirty politics endemic to high stakes research labs when academic accolades and money become greater motivators than the cures being sought. I finished the book frustrated with Candace, adoring Candace, wanting to help Candace and wanting her to help me. Mostly, I wished the world had more Candace Pert before her untimely death. I highly recommend this book.

Well Done.

Very well researched.
An example of one searching for a breakthrough that benefits mankind and corporate greed gets in the way. It seemed Candace tapped both sides of the brain in life as well as ruffle feathers along the way. It seems there maybe room to further this story?

A gripping biography of a complex woman

This was one of the most interesting and compelling biographies I have read. Ryckman presents the multifaceted career and personal life of a complicated scientists. Candace Pert was a unique figure and Ryckman’s detailed and well documented biography brings her to life

Fascinating story marred by annoying narration.

The story of Candace Pert is remarkable for many reasons -the history of neuroscience, women in science, how mental health interplays with personal and professional life, the brutality of competition and backstabbing in academia and science. Very interesting reading and well written. However, listening is another matter. The narrator’s style is distracting and annoying as it is very haughty and affected. She also mispronounces many words. Really got in the way for me. Wish the author had read the book. Her voice is much more listenable.