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"A brilliant researcher!"
Dr Robert Atkins
An expert on nutrition
and metabolism and an outstanding educator, Dr Gaston Pawan was
the first to show the biological activity of the hormone
aldosterone and study the metabolic response of a patient
treated with aldosterone in 1954. He was also the first to
isolate the Fat Mobilising Substance (FMS) and to show its
activity in humans. He studied the first obese human
subjects to receive a course of treatment with FMS in 1968.
This work was used by Dr Robert Atkins to develop the popular
but controversial Atkins Diet.
Gaston Lennox Pawan was
born on 2nd January 1921 in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad. The
only son of Dr Joseph Lennox Pawan, he was educated at St.
Mary's College. He excelled academically and was inspired
by his science teacher,
Father Leonard Graf. A
well-rounded student, he was involved in cricket, boxing and
weightlifting. In 1939, he joined the colonial service as
a trainee, assisting in food and drugs analysis.
From 1942 to 1944, he
saw active war service in the Atlantic convoys. After his
ship was torpedoed, he was taken to Liverpool, England, where he
pursued higher education. He joined Middlesex Hospital,
London in 1948, working as a research assistant while studying
part-time at the Middlesex Hospital Medical School and the
University of Cambridge. He obtained his Bachelor of
Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBChir) in 1949, and his
Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Chemistry, Physiology and Anatomy
from the University of London in 1951. His research
focused on the investigation of patients with metabolic and
nutritional disorders.
In the early 1950s,
Pawan became involved in the emerging National Health Service (NHS).
For him, this was a time of opportunity, enthusiasm and team
building. He was appointed Lecturer and Research
Biochemist in the Middlesex Department of Medicine in 1951. The Middlesex Hospital was a centre of
excellence in clinical biochemistry and he became a founding
member of the Association of Clinical
Biochemists in 1953. In 1955, he obtained a Bachelor of
Science (BSc) in Special Physiology,
and in 1957, was awarded a Doctor of
Philosophy (PhD) in Medicine for his thesis Metabolic Studies
in Obesity.
 Dr Pawan's research explored many aspects of
nutrition and metabolism. He has published widely in
medical and scientific journals and lectured worldwide.
His work is widely used by researchers in the field.
In 1968, he was awarded a Doctor of Science
(DSc) from the University of London for his work in the field of
human and experimental metabolism. At the university, he
was recognised for his teaching in medicine and nutrition.
A Chartered Chemist, he was also a fellow of many learned
societies and professional institutions.
Dr Gaston Lennox Pawan retired in 1983 but
continued to work as an independent consultant until his death
on 7th February 2003.
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