Dorothy M. Needham

Dorothy Mary Moyle Needham FRS[1] (22 September 1896 – 22 December 1987) was an English biochemist known for her work on the biochemistry of muscle.

[3] Moyle's first major research, in collaboration with Dorothy L. Foster, focused on the interconversion of lactic acid and glycogen in muscle, recapitulating the work of Otto Fritz Meyerhof.

They returned to Cambridge in 1945, where she continued research in protein and enzyme biochemistry, and she was awarded the degree of Doctor of Science.

The Needhams were a socially and politically active couple who shared many causes—for example, both sat on the Cambridge Trade Council as representatives of the Association of Scientific Workers.

[8] She supported numerous organisations, including Amnesty International; Animals' Vigilantes; Anti-Nuclear Campaign; Cambridge Welfare and Preservation Societies; Cambridge University's Newcomers Club; El Salvador Committee for Human Rights; Friends of the Earth; Medical and Scientific Aid for Vietnam, Laos and Kampuchea; Medical and Scientific Committee for Soviet Jewry; and the Movement for the Ordination of Women.