International Summit on Psychedelic Therapies for Mental Illness

Speakers

• 

  Professor Dan Ariely (USA/Israel)

  James B. Duke Professor of Psychology and Behavioural Economics at Duke University

  

  Professor Dan Ariely (USA/Israel)

  James B. Duke Professor of Psychology and Behavioural Economics at Duke University

  Dan Ariely is the James B. Duke Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Economics at Duke University, with appointments in the Fuqua School of Business, the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, and the department of Economics.

  As one of the foremost leaders in psychology and behavioral economics, Dr. Ariely has published his research in top economic, medical and psychology journals and is the author of Predictably Irrational (2008), The Upside of Irrationality (2010), and The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty (2012), three bestselling general audience books about research in behavioral economics. In addition, he is the founding member of The Center For Advanced Hindsight.

• 

  Dr Robin Carhart-Harris (UK)

  Head of the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London

  

  Dr Robin Carhart-Harris (UK)

  Head of the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London

  Robin Carhart-Harris moved to Imperial College London in 2008 after obtaining a PhD in Psychopharmacology from the University of Bristol and an MA in Psychoanalysis from Brunel University. At Imperial, he has run and overseen brain imaging studies involving LSD, psilocybin, MDMA and DMT, plus a clinical trial of psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression, and a current study comparing psilocybin with escitalopram for major depressive disorder. In 2019, he set-up the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial and he also an honorary position with the University of Oxford. Two of his most influential works include the ‘Entropic Brain Hypothesis’ and ‘REBUS and the anarchic brain’.

• 

  Wade Davis CM (Candada)

  Professor of Anthropology & BC Leadership Chair in Cultures and Ecosystems at Risk at the University of British Columbia.

  

  Wade Davis CM (Candada)

  Professor of Anthropology & BC Leadership Chair in Cultures and Ecosystems at Risk at the University of British Columbia.

  Wade Davis is a writer, photographer, and filmmaker whose work has taken him from the Amazon to Tibet, Africa to Australia, Polynesia to the Arctic. Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society from 2000 to 2013, he is currently Professor of Anthropology and the BC Leadership Chair in Cultures and Ecosystems at Risk at the University of British Columbia. Author of 22 books, including One River, The Wayfinders and Into the Silence, winner of the 2012 Samuel Johnson prize, the top nonfiction prize in the English language, he holds degrees in anthropology and biology and received his Ph.D. in ethnobotany, all from Harvard University.

  His many film credits include Light at the Edge of the World, an eight-hour documentary series written and produced for the NGS. Davis, one of 20 Honorary Members of the Explorers Club, is the recipient of 11 honorary degrees, as well as the 2009 Gold Medal from the Royal Canadian Geographical Society, the 2011 Explorers Medal, the 2012 David Fairchild Medal for botanical exploration, the 2015 Centennial Medal of Harvard University, the 2017 Roy Chapman Andrews Society’s Distinguished Explorer Award, the 2017 Sir Christopher Ondaatje Medal for Exploration, and the 2018 Mungo Park Medal from the Royal Scottish Geographical Society. In 2016, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada. In 2018 he became an Honorary Citizen of Colombia.

• 

  Dr Rick Doblin (USA)

  Executive Director of MAPS

  

  Dr Rick Doblin (USA)

  Executive Director of MAPS

  Rick Doblin, Ph.D., is the founder and executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS).

  He received his doctorate in Public Policy from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, where he wrote his dissertation on the regulation of the medical uses of psychedelics and marijuana and his Master's thesis on a survey of oncologists about smoked marijuana vs. the oral THC pill in nausea control for cancer patients. His undergraduate thesis at New College of Florida was a 25-year follow-up to the classic Good Friday Experiment, which evaluated the potential of psychedelic drugs to catalyze religious experiences. He also conducted a thirty-four year follow-up study to Timothy Leary's Concord Prison Experiment.

  Rick studied with Dr. Stanislav Grof and was among the first to be certified as a Holotropic Breathwork practitioner. His professional goal is to help develop legal contexts for the beneficial uses of psychedelics and marijuana, primarily as prescription medicines but also for personal growth for otherwise healthy people, and eventually to become a legally licensed psychedelic therapist.

  He founded MAPS in 1986, and currently resides in Boston with his wife, dog, and empty rooms from three children, one of whom is in college and two have graduated.

• 

  Adam Gazzaley M.D, PHD (USA)

  Founder & Executive Director - Neuroscape

  

  Adam Gazzaley M.D, PHD (USA)

  Founder & Executive Director - Neuroscape

  Dr. Adam Gazzaley obtained an M.D. and a Ph.D. in Neuroscience at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, completed Neurology residency at the University of Pennsylvania, and postdoctoral training in cognitive neuroscience at University of California, Berkeley. He is now the David Dolby Distinguished Professor in Neurology, Physiology and Psychiatry at University of California, San Francisco and the Founder / Executive Director of Neuroscape, a translational neuroscience center engaged in technology creation and scientific research.

  He designs and develops novel brain assessment and optimization tools to impact education, wellness, and medicine practices. This novel approach involves the development of custom-designed, closed-loop video games integrated with the latest advancements in software (brain computer interfaces, GPU computing, cloud-based analytics) and hardware (virtual/augmented reality, motion capture, mobile physiological recording devices, transcranial electrical brain stimulation). These technologies are then advanced to rigorous research studies that evaluate their impact on multiple aspects of brain function and physiology. This utilizes a powerful combination of neurophysiological tools, including functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), electroencephalography (EEG), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS).

• 

  Associate Professor Matthew Johnson (USA)

  Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

  

  Associate Professor Matthew Johnson (USA)

  Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

  Matthew W. Johnson, Ph.D., Associate Professor at Johns Hopkins, is an expert on psychedelics, other drugs, and addiction. Working with psychedelics for >15 years, he has published >100 papers with 43 on psychedelics. Matt published psychedelic safety guidelines in 2008, helping to resurrect psychedelic research. He published the first research on psychedelic treatment of tobacco addiction in 2014, and the largest study of psilocybin in treating cancer distress in 2016. His recent psilocybin review recommended placement in Schedule-IV upon medical approval.

  He has personally guided >100 psychedelic sessions. Matt also conducts behavioral economic research on both addiction and sexual risk. He has published studies on nearly all psychoactive drugs classes, and is President of the Psychopharmacology and Substance Abuse Division of the American Psychological Association. Matt has been interviewed by the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, BBC, CNN, Fox Business News, NPR, CBS News, and NBC News.

• 

  Professor David Nutt (UK)

  Head of Neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London

  

  Professor David Nutt (UK)

  Head of Neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London

  BA, MB BChir, MRCP, MA, DM, MRCPsych, FRCPsych, FMedSci, FRCP, FSB.

  Renowned researcher, policy advisor and author, Professor David Nutt, is currently Head of Neuropsychopharmacology at Imperial College London.

  Under the leadership of Professor Nutt, the Psychedelic Research Group at Imperial College is one of the world’s foremost psychedelic research laboratories, publishing landmark research on psychedelic therapies and neuroimaging studies of the psychedelic state.

  Professor Nutt has also held many leadership positions in both UK and European academic, scientific and clinical organisations, including presidencies of: the European Brain Council, the British Neuroscience Association, the British Association of Psychopharmacology, the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology.

  He was previously Chair of the UK Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs.

• 

  Professor Janis Phelps (USA)

  Psychedelic Therapist Trainer

  

  Professor Janis Phelps (USA)

  Psychedelic Therapist Trainer

  Janis Phelps, PhD, is a full professor at the California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), San Francisco, CA. A licensed clinical psychologist, she has held faculty positions there in the East-West Psychology graduate program (founded by Alan Watts) and in the clinical psychology doctoral program. She served as the Dean of Faculty at CIIS for the graduate departments in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences.

  She is currently the founder and director of the CIIS Center for Psychedelic Therapies and Research. As the Center’s founder, Dr. Phelps developed and launched the first academically accredited, professional certificate training program for legal psychedelic-assisted therapy and research www.ciis.edu/psychedeliccenter. Her recent publications focus on the competencies, knowledge base, and training of therapists and facilitators in psychedelic-assisted therapies.

  Dr. Phelps is contributing to the development of a national accreditation board for facilitators/therapists and to methods of scaling effective and efficient training programs to meet the burgeoning need for well-trained mental health and medical professionals in the field of psychedelic medicine.

• 

  Dr Ben Sessa (UK)

  Psychiatrist, researcher and writer

  

  Dr Ben Sessa (UK)

  Psychiatrist, researcher and writer

  Dr Ben Sessa trained at UCL, London, graduating in Medicine in 1997.

  He works clinically as an adult and adolescent psychiatrist, and academically in Bristol and Imperial College London University, with an interest in the developmental trajectory from child maltreatment to adult mental health disorders.

  In the last ten years Ben has been a study doctor and a test subject administering and receiving legal doses of pure LSD, psilocybin, MDMA, DMT and Ketamine.

  He is currently conducting the world’s first clinical study using MDMA to treat addiction. Ben is the co-founder and past President of the UK’s premier psychedelic research conference, Breaking Convention.

  He has published dozens of peer reviewed papers on psychedelics and is the Author of several textbooks, including the influential book ‘The Psychedelic Renaissance’.

• 

  Dr Rosalind Watts (UK)

  Psychedelic Therapist & Researcher

  

  Dr Rosalind Watts (UK)

  Psychedelic Therapist & Researcher

  Dr Rosalind Watts is the clinical lead of the Imperial College London Psilocybin for Depression study. She trained as a clinical psychologist and practised psychotherapy for 6 years before joining the Imperial Psychedelic Research Centre (run by Dr Robin Carhart Harris and Professor David Nutt) as a therapist ‘trip sitter’. She has developed a psychedelic therapy model ‘Accept, Connect, Embody’, and a psychometric measure of ‘connectedness’ – which her qualitative research identified as a potential mechanism of therapeutic change in psychedelic approaches. Rosalind co-founded a monthly integration group for people who are attending psychedelic ceremonies for therapeutic purposes.

• 

  Professor David Castle

  Chair of Psychiatry, St Vincent’s Health & The University of Melbourne

  

  Professor David Castle

  Chair of Psychiatry, St Vincent’s Health & The University of Melbourne

  David Castle is Chair of Psychiatry at St Vincent’s Health and The University of Melbourne. He has wide clinical and research interests, encompassing schizophrenia and related disorders, bipolar disorder, OCD spectrum disorders and disorders of body image.

  He has a longstanding interest in the impact of licit and illicit substances on the brain and body and is actively engaged in programmes addressing the physical health of the mentally ill and the mental health of the physically ill. He has published widely in the scientific literature and is a frequent speaker at scientific meetings. His broader interests include music, literature, theatre and art.

• 

  Dr Simon Longstaff AO

  Director of The Ethics Centre

  

  Dr Simon Longstaff AO

  Director of The Ethics Centre

  Dr Simon Longstaff commenced his work as the first Executive Director of The Ethics Centre in 1991. He undertook postgraduate studies in Philosophy as a Member of Magdalene College, Cambridge.

  Simon is a Fellow of CPA Australia and in June 2016, was appointed an Honorary Professor at the Australian National University – based at the National Centre for Indigenous Studies. Formerly serving as the inaugural President of The Australian Association for Professional & Applied Ethics, Simon serves on a number of boards and committees across a broad spectrum of activities. He was formerly a Fellow of the World Economic Forum.

  Simon’s distinguished career includes being named as one of AFR Boss’ True Leaders for the 21st century. In 2013 Dr Longstaff was made an officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for “distinguished service to the community through the promotion of ethical standards in governance and business, to improving corporate responsibility, and to philosophy.”

• 

  Tania de Jong AM

  Founder Creative Universe, Creativity Australia, Creative Innovation Global and Mind Medicine Australia

  

  Tania de Jong AM

  Founder Creative Universe, Creativity Australia, Creative Innovation Global and Mind Medicine Australia

  Tania is an acclaimed Australian soprano and one of Australia's most successful female entrepreneurs and innovators having developed 5 businesses and 3 charities over the past 3 decades. She is the Founder of Creative Universe, Creativity Australia, Mind Medicine Australia, Creative Innovation Global, Dimension5 co-working hub, MTA Entertainment & Events, Pot-Pourri and The Song Room.

  Tania presents keynote speeches and performs around the world. She has released 10 albums. She works across the public, private, creative and community sectors. Tania's TED Talk How Singing Together Changes The Brain has sparked international interest.

  She was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia in June 2008. In 2018 Tania was named in the 100 Women of Influence and the 100 Australian Most Influential Entrepreneurs in Australia.

  Tania's mission is to change the world, one voice at a time!

• 

  Peter Hunt AM

  Investment Banker & engaged Philanthropist; Founder Women’s Community Shelters and Mind Medicine Australia

  

  Peter Hunt AM

  Investment Banker & engaged Philanthropist; Founder Women’s Community Shelters and Mind Medicine Australia

  Peter is Chairman and one of the original Founders of Greenhill Australia, a leading Australian corporate advisory firm that is now part of the global Greenhill advisory group. He has been advising local and multi-national companies and governments in Australia for over 25 years.

  In the NFP sector, Peter is Chairman, Grameen Australia; Chairman, So They Can, and Director and Founder, Women’s Community Shelters. Peter is also a member of the Advisory Councils of Mission Australia and the Centre for Social Impact. Previous roles in the sector have included Chairman, AMP Foundation; Chairman, Australian String Quartet; Trustee, St Vincent’s Clinic Foundation; a Director, Odyssey House and a Director, St James Ethics Centre.

  Peter was made a member of the General Division of the Order of Australia in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List in 2010 for services to the philanthropic sector.

Recommend a speaker