Dr Alasdair Scott MBBS FRCS PhD

gut doctor, PhD and our Science Director

Alasdair is a microbiome scientist and gut specialist doctor. He’s also our Science Director and brings the very latest developments in gut and metabolic science from “lab to life” to improve your health with cutting-edge medical knowledge.

Alasdair has specific expertise in:

gut health
the gut microbiome
inflammation
bowel cancer
surgery
preventative medicine
longevity & healthspan
metabolic health
medical research

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Healthcare needs to change and our attitudes to health need to change with it.

I’ve been a doctor for over a decade and have had the privilege of being a cancer surgeon in the NHS and a researcher with Imperial College. I was trained to see health as something to fix when it goes wrong. To see diseases like cancer, heart disease, frailty and dementia as inevitable. But I think we all understand now that health can be actively maintained and that a large proportion of the major diseases that affect us can be delayed if not prevented altogether.

So why don’t we have doctors who specialise not just in treating disease but in making us as healthy as we can be to* stop us getting sick in the first place*? Who is there to help you be as fit and active as possible, well into your 90s?

I think the problem lies partly with our current healthcare system and partly with us. The NHS is already stretched to breaking point just in looking after the people who are already sick. There are simply no resources left to put into optimising our health and preventing disease. So those resources need to come from you and I.

But this is where we come to the second problem. We have become used to health being something that is done to us. We trust the NHS to know what’s best for us and to pick up the pieces when it goes wrong. But the reality is that we need to be active proponents of our own health. Our health is under our control to a large degree - we just need the right tools, knowledge and support to look after it.

This is why my wife Claire and I created Selph. We are the doctors you can come to and ask, “how do I make sure I’m as healthy as possible in my 90s?”. Selph’s mission is to give you the tools, knowledge and support to do exactly that. We’re literally creating a healthcare company for the future. One that actually focuses on health rather than disease.

Our only health ideology is to help people do what works for them. We’re not vegan or keto or [insert your favourite diet here]. We’re not fixated on any particular wonder-supplement or the latest intermittent-fasting regimen. We are pro making evidenced-informed decisions that work for You, the individual. We pay most attention to the fundamentals - the 20% you really need to do to get 80% of the benefit.

There’s so much noise out there when it comes to health - Selph aims to cut through all that to help you focus on what makes a difference.

Alasdair's Bio

Alasdair went to medical school at Imperial College London. During his medical degree he also completed a PhD researching inflammation and sepsis. Alasdair graduated medical school top of his year in 2012. He also won the prestigious University of London Gold Medal which is awarded to the top-performing medical student from all the London medical schools.

Alasdair continued to combine clinical medicine and research throughout his training. He secured a place on the highly competitive academic foundation programme where he gained his core medical and surgical competencies and published research on the use of clinical scoring systems in the management of acute appendicitis. He was then awarded an Academic Clinical Fellowship and commenced his surgical training in North West London.

Alasdair developed a keen interest in cancer surgery and began his training as a bowel cancer surgeon. At the same time, his research interests evolved into the study of how the gut microbiome and the development of bowel cancer. He has published extensively in this field and co-founded the International Cancer Microbiome Consortium and was the lead author on a widely-cited consensus statement on the role of the human microbiome in the development of cancer.

Alasdair’s research successes culminated in the award of a Clinical Lectureship position at Imperial College London in 2019. In 2021, Alasdair completed his final postgraduate surgical exams for fellowship to the Royal College of Surgeons. Later that year, Alasdair resigned his NHS and academic positions to commit full-time to Selph as their Science Director.

Alasdair's Selected Publications