Mud, Microbes, and Medicine - by Elizabeth Reed Aden (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

For fans of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and Lab Girl, an arresting memoir that chronicles a young woman's journey from remote island research to Big Pharma and the boardroom.

Elizabeth "Betsy" Aden, a twenty-something anthropology student, is clinging to academia as a safety net--until she's offered a grant to spend the summer on a remote island in Melanesia, famously home to cannibals. Adventure calls, and Betsy doesn't hesitate. Once she arrives, though, reality hits: no running water, no electricity, and no Western medicine. Inspired by her experiences, Betsy returns to school with a new perspective and changes her field from cultural anthropology to biomedical anthropology. Driven by a new purpose, she returns to Melanesia for two years to study the transmission hepatitis B and sets up an ingenious field laboratory to collect and test blood samples.

Back at home, resourceful and determined Elizabeth successfully navigates the complicated "boys club" of academia. She explores teaching and advertising and finds a fit in biotech from which she builds a career in Big Pharma. That choice, along with her tenacity and willingness to take risks, propels Elizabeth on a meteoric rise to the senior executive suite in a large Swiss company and into the boardrooms of scrappy biotech companies.

With electric detail and candid honesty, Mud, Microbes, and Medicine is a testimony of resilience and resolve in the face of challenges so large and unimaginable, you will wonder how Elizabeth's story could even be true.

Review Quotes

"You're about to enjoy eight delightful books fused into one fascinating autobiography. You'll read about life on remote Pacific Islands, low-tech ways of raising children, learning from one's mistakes, how to start out naive and still succeed, and how to morph from an impoverished powerless student into an affluent powerful executive. Of course, you'll also learn a lot about sex."--Jared Diamond, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Guns Germs and Steel

"What a rip-roaring gem of a text Mud, Microbes, and Medicine is, all the way from Safari Barbie in the '70s to the latest trip back to the real world there in the Southewestern Pacific in 2019. A gripping read. Congratulations to Elizabeth Aden for all her very hard work in getting it all together (in life, and on paper!)."--Kirk W. Huffman, PhD, anthropologist, research associate at Australian Museum, curator and honorary curator of the Vanuatu Cultural Centre, and author of Arts of Vanuatu

"Elizabeth Aden's journey from naive young researcher in Vanuatu to the powerhouses of Silicon Valley is wise, fascinating, funny, brutally honest and beautifully written."--Sheri T. Joseph, USA Today bestselling author of Edge of the Known World

"Elizabeth Aden's Mud, Microbes, and Medicine is a must-read. Her journey demonstrates the value of learning from mistakes, persistence in achieving an objective, the importance of listening, and having the flexibility to make midcourse corrections."--Lochlann Jain, PhD, professor of anthropology at Stanford University and author of Malignant, Things that Art, and Injury

"Aden took a huge leap into unknown scientific territory. Her willingness to take risks and her fierce intelligence, combined with a recognition of her own naivety, resulted in fascinating insights."--Jenny Blackett-Smith, MD, president of Leftemap mo Skul

"What an amazing story of a life filled with confidence and creativity and also hard reflections and self-doubt."--Melinda Moree, PhD, former Executive Director of PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative and former CEO of Bio Ventures for Global Health

"Life is an adventure, and few would dispute that Aden's life as a cultural anthropologist, infectious disease epidemiologist, pharmaceutical executive, and author would not qualify as adventuresome."--George W. Rutherford, MD, MA, professor of epidemiology, preventive medicine, pediatrics, and history at University of California, San Francisco

"In Mud, Microbes, and Medicine, Elizabeth Aden takes us on a journey of self-discovery, courage, and resilience. With honesty, humor, and wit, she reflects on the complexities of relationships, societal expectations, and the often messy process of finding one's own path." --Kim Sorrelle, author of Love Is and TV and podcast host

"In Mud, Microbes, and Medicine, Aden takes us on one of the wildest rides imaginable, surpassing even the thrills of political thrillers and action-packed adventures. A must-read for anyone seeking adventure and inspiration!"--Nancy Orlen Weber, author of The Life of a Psychic Detective

"Aden's experiences are a timeless playbook for everyone navigating the uncertainty and opportunity of life."--Pat Wetzel, host of the Bump in the Road podcast and author of the Bump in the Road book series

"Mud, Microbes, and Medicine chronicles the personal and professional evolution of a scientist during fifty plus years of risk taking and continued learning in a man's world of academia and business."--Barbara G Werner, PhD, FIDSA, associated professor of medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine and UMass Medical School

"What a mixture of intrigue and science and lessons about living! Aden's honesty is refreshing and fed my curiosity to what next decision she would make and where it would take her. This book is a fast and enjoyable read."--Mary Lang Sollinger, author of From Inspiration to Activism

"In this lively personal memoir, Dr. Elizabeth Aden, medical anthropologist and breaker of glass ceilings in the international world of Big Pharma, shares her personal experiences in both these incarnations with unfaltering frankness."--J. Suzanne Cox, former executive VP of marketing at American National Red Cross

About the Author

Elizabeth Reed Aden is a biomedical anthropologist turned biotech/pharma strategist with a career spanning epidemiology, virology, and global pharma leadership. After earning her PhD studying hepatitis B in Vanuatu, she left academia for biotech and then Big Pharma, rising to Senior Vice President of Global Pharmaceutical Strategy at a top Swiss company. A pioneer in personalized medicine, she recently crafted a national implementation plan for precision healthcare in a G7 country. Now an author, Betsy's debut medical thriller, The Goldilocks Genome, spins complicated scientific concepts into a gripping thriller. Her upcoming memoir, Mud, Microbes, and Medicine (2026), chronicles her unconventional path from tropical fieldwork to the biotech boardroom. A native of Berkeley, California, she resides there today.