Biography
Steven Cartwright
My professional background is in molecular biology with a PhD from Edinburgh University, followed by fellowships and positions in medical research at the Universities of California, Santa Cruz and Oxford. When I came across homeopathy in 1984 I realised instinctively that not only was this an important therapy, but an understanding of its underlying mode of action would have implications far beyond homeopathy itself.
Consequently I trained at the College of Homeopathy in London and the School of Homeopathy in Devon, leaving mainstream research and setting up in practice at the Summertown Clinic in Oxford in 1988, and gaining registration with the Society of Homeopaths the following year.
Having been with the Society of Homeopaths for over 20 years I have decided however, as of January 2010, to transfer my professional membership to the Alliance of Registered Homeopaths (ARH) whom I feel are more committed to supporting basic research in homeopathy and recognise the need to pursue a scientific understanding of how this important medical system works.
Anyone who has experienced homeopathy first hand knows what a powerful and unique therapy it is yet still, after 200 years, it remains without a theoretical framework or explanation that is acceptable to the scientific and medical communities, and this has severely limited its acceptance and availability.
Together with practising, my primary aim has therefore been to try and contribute to an understanding of how homeopathy might work, exploring many different avenues from the conventional to the outright unconventional (see PDF1 and PDF2). The sections Research in Homeopathy and Experiments describe some of the ideas and conclusions I have arrived at. I have always felt the importance of research cannot be understated since the more we understand the better we can practice.
Since 2009 I have been carrying out experimental work on homeopathic medicines at the Cherwell Innovation Centre in Oxfordshire. Results so far have been extremely promising and I hope this research will begin to provide an explanation of how homeopathy works and so improve the practice of homeopathy and the care of our patients enormously (see PDF 4 from "The Oxford Times" September, 2009).
Along the way, the pursuit of answers to homeopathy and the need to help my patients more effectively has led me to other important therapeutic approaches. Fifteen years ago I discovered and became professionally involved in shamanism through the work of Leo Rutherford at Eagle's Wing and Jonathon Horwitz at the Scandinavian Centre for Shamanic Studies, and later I was fortunate to be granted a Winston Churchill Travelling Fellowship to study traditional medicines in the Peruvian Amazon and Himalayan foothills of Nepal.
Aside from – although connected with – homeopathy my other interests include the origins and prehistory of medicine, particularly in relation to shamanism and traditional plant use (see PDF3), and in connection with this I am currently studying for a MSc in archaeology at Oxford University.
I hope having a wide range of experiences and interests, together with a deep knowledge of homeopathy and a sound scientific background, allows me to practice with greater insight and clarity and to be in a position to provide an excellent quality of treatment to patients.
Homeopathy Publications
Cartwright, S. J. (1996) "On the Nature of Homeopathy".The Homeopath 62, 599- 601.
Cartwright, S. J. (2002) "A Re-examination of Homeopathic Philosophy and a Simplified Approach to Practice" The Homeopath 84, 16- 23.