Orthomolecular Medicine Hall of Fame

Inducted 2005

David Horrobin was one of the most original scientific minds of his generation. His study of human physiology lead him to investigate the role of fatty acids and their derivatives in human disease. He applied his vast knowledge of lipids to investigate their therapeutic potential in medicine. David was a scholar of Balliol College, Oxford, where he obtained a First Class Honours medical degree. To this he added a clinical medical degree and a doctorate in neuroscience. He was a fellow of Magdalen College where he taught medicine alongside Dr. Hugh Sinclair, one of the pioneers in the field of essential fatty acids. After further research on EFAs at the universities of Newcastle and Montreal, he became increasingly fascinated in lipid biochemistry and its application to human disease.

Throughout his travels in East Africa and work in Kenya, he developed the kernel of thought about fatty acids, schizophrenia and its role in evolution. He later elaborated this idea in his 2001 book, The Madness of Adam and Eve, which was short-listed in 2002 for the Aventis Science Book of the Year. Abram Hoffer wrote: “This is a remarkable book. I agree with his interpretation that schizophrenia is an evolutionary advantage and that its genes are slowly moving into the general population.”

David was the founder and Editor of Medical Hypotheses, a forum for the dissemination of new ideas in medicine. He was also the founder and Editor of the journal Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes, and Essential Fatty Acids. He was a prolific writer who authored and edited numerous books on a wide range of subjects, as well as contributing to over 800 scientific publications. He served as Medical Adviser and President for the Schizophrenia Association of Great Britain. He also served on the board of the International Schizophrenia Foundation from 1998-2003.

Dr. Horrobin was a favourite speaker at the annual Nutritional Medicine Today Conference, where his presentations were models of clarity and logic.