Psychedelic Therapy: Problems and Promises

Robin Carhart-Harris, PhD is the Ralph Metzner Distinguished Professor in Neurology and Psychiatry and Director Neuroscape’s Psychedelics Division at the University of California, San Francisco. He moved to Imperial College London in 2008 after obtaining a PhD in Psychopharmacology from the University of Bristol. Robin has designed human brain imaging studies with LSD, psilocybin, MDMA and DMT, and clinical trials of psilocybin therapy for severe mental illnesses. He has authored over 130 papers, with over forteen thousand citations. Robin founded the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London in April 2019, and in 2021, was named in TIME magazine’s ‘100 Next’ – a list of 100 rising stars shaping the future.  

Greg Fonzo, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Dell Medical School with a courtesy appointment in the Department of Psychology.  He graduated summa cum laude from the University of Georgia Honors Program in 2005 with a dual bachelor’s degree in biology and psychology. He received his doctorate in clinical psychology in 2013 from the San Diego State University/University of California-San Diego Joint Doctoral Program. He completed his postdoctoral research fellowship at the Stanford University School of Medicine and the Sierra-Pacific Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC) at the Palo Alto Veterans Affairs Healthcare System.  Dr. Fonzo’s research focuses on elucidating neurobiological mechanisms underlying manifestation and treatment of affective and stress-related disorders  and designing novel neuroscience-informed treatment modalities using tools such as neuroimaging and neuromodulation.  He is currently leading efforts at The University of Texas at Austin to understand how psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy augments neural and psychological function to alleviate mental illness and how to improve and enhance the prediction, durability, and magnitude of therapeutic benefits.
 

Dr. Stephen Ross is Research Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Child & Adolescent Psychiatry at the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Dr. Ross is a founding member of the NYU Psychedelic Research Group and is currently associate director of the NYU Langone Health (NYULH) Center for Psychedelic Medicine and director of the NYULH Psychedelic Medicine Research Training Program. In 21 years at NYU and Bellevue, Dr Ross has been involved in a variety of leadership roles in administration, teaching and research. He previously served as Director of the Division of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse in the Psychiatry Department at Bellevue Hospital Center for 12 years, Director of Addiction Psychiatry at NYULH/Tisch Hospital, Director of the NYU Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship, Director of the Bellevue Inpatient Dual Diagnosis Training Unit, and Director of the Bellevue Opioid Overdose Prevention Program. Dr Ross’s main research interests focus on developing novel pharmacologic-psychosocial approaches to treating: addictive disorders, including the intersection between pain and addiction; psychiatric and existential distress associated with advanced or terminal cancer; major depression; PTSD; and personality disorders. Dr Ross  is principal investigator or co-principal investigator on several ongoing and completed psychedelic-focused studies at NYULH including: phase II RCT of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy in patients with life-threatening cancer-related psychiatric and existential distress, phase I/II RCT of LSD-assisted psychotherapy in advanced cancer pain syndromes, phase II RCT of psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy in alcohol use disorder, phase I/II controlled trial administering psilocybin to religious professionals, and phase II RCT of psilocybin treatment for Major Depressive Disorder. Dr Ross also acts as a co-investigator and study therapist for phase II/III trials of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD, and is an expert in cannabinoid therapeutics and PI of a NIDA funded study of CBD administration in patients with chronic radicular pain on chronic opioid therapy.  

Rachel Yehuda, PhD, is an Endowed Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience of Trauma.  She is also Director of Mental Health at the James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Dr. Yehuda is a recognized leader in the field of traumatic stress studies having authored more than 500 academic papers, chapters, and books in the field of PTSD and intergenerational trauma.  Dr. Yehuda's research on cortisol and epigenetic mechanisms has revolutionized our understanding of the neurobiology and treatment of PTSD.  In 2019, Dr. Yehuda was elected to the National Academy of Medicine for her seminal contributions to understanding the psychological and biological impact of traumatic stress.  Last year, Dr. Yehuda established and now directs the Center for Psychedelic Psychotherapy and Trauma Research, and has been named one of the most influential women in the psychedelic field.