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Dr Gaston Pawan was an
outstanding medical researcher and educator. An expert
on nutrition, metabolism and obesity, he published 143
papers in prestigious medical and scientific journals
and lectured worldwide. He was the first to isolate the
Fat Mobilising Substance[1]
(FMS) and to show (on himself) the biological activity
of aldosterone[2]. He studied the metabolic response of the first
patient treated with aldosterone in 1954. Breaking new
ground, he studied the first obese human subjects to
receive a course of treatment with FMS in 1968. Other
published research explored aspects of nutrition and
metabolism in relation to endocrinology[3], nephrology[4], pharmacology[5], alcohol and anorexia nervosa. Dr Robert Atkins made
use of Pawan’s research when developing his famous and
controversial Atkins Diet[6].
Gaston Lennox Stephen Pawan was
born on 2nd January 1921, the only son of the renowned
Dr Joseph
Lennox Pawan. He was educated at St. Mary’s
College, where he was inspired by
Fr.
Leonard Graf and excelled academically. He was also
a noted sportsman 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 was engaged in active war service in the
Atlantic. His ship was torpedoed and he was one of only
three from the crew of 80 to survive.
In 1945, Pawan went off to
England to pursue his higher education. In 1948, he
began at the Medical Unit, Middlesex Hospital in London
as a research assistant under the direction of
Professor Alan Kekwick. He studied part-time at the
School of Clinical Medicine at University of Cambridge,
obtaining his Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBBChir)
in 1949, and in 1951 a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in
Chemistry, Physiology and Anatomy from the University
of London. His research focused on metabolic and
nutritional disorders. In 1957, he received a PhD in
Medicine from the University of Cambridge for Metabolic
Studies in Obesity, a work that is still amongst the
most widely used in the world.
While in London, he was appointed
Lecturer and Research Biochemist in the Department of
Medicine at the Middlesex Hospital, a centre of
excellence in clinical biochemistry at the time. In
1953, he was a founding member of the Association of
Clinical Biochemists, one of the first organisations of
its kind in the world. In 1955, he became an Honorary
Lecturer and Consultant at the Middlesex Hospital
Medical School.
Dr Pawan was a Chartered Chemist
and fellow of many learned societies and professional
institutions including the Royal College of
Pathologists, the Royal Institute of Chemistry, the
Institute of Biology, The Royal Society of Medicine and
the Institute of Food Science and Technology.
In 1968, he was awarded the
Doctor of Science (DSc) degree from the University of
London for his work in the field of human and
experimental metabolism. He was also a recognised
teacher in medicine and nutrition at the university, a
member of both the Board of Studies in Medicine, as
well as the Board of Nutrition and Food Science and its
Higher Degrees Sub-committee.
He achieved the rank of Senior
Lecturer in Metabolism and Head of the Metabolic
Division in the Department of Medicine at the Middlesex
Hospital. Dr Pawan retired in 1983, but worked as an
independent consultant. He died on 7th February, 2003.
1-A substance released by the
body during times of food deprivation, which breaks fat
down into its component molecules
2-Aldosterone is a hormone
that governs sodium re-absorption and potassium
excretion in the kidneys
3-The study of the endocrine
system, which delivers hormones throughout the body to
carry messages from one organ to another
4-The study of the function
and diseases of the kidney
5-The science dealing with
the uses, preparations and effects of drugs
6-A low carbohydrate diet
involving the consumption of large quantities of
protein, which relies on internal chemical processes to
cause weight loss
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