Speakers
2013 Speakers
Alphabetical by last name:
- ANTHONY BOSSIS, PH.D., ”Psilocybin Induced Mystical Experience for End-of-Life Existential and Spiritual Distress: The NYU Cancer Anxiety Study”
- EARTH AND FIRE EROWID, ”State of the Stone 2013: A Rapidly Changing Landscape”
- YALILA ESPINOZA, PH.D., ”The Light & Shadow of Sexuality in Shamanism”
- ALBERT GARCIA-ROMEU, PH.D., ”Psilocybin in the Treatment of Smoking Addiction: An Update from the Johns Hopkins Research Team.”
- RACHEL HARRIS, PH.D., ”Ayahuasca Use in North America”
- DENNIS J. MCKENNA, PH.D., ”Ayahuasca Yesterday Today and Tomorrow: Perspectives on the Past & Future of Ayahuasca”
- MARCELA OT’ALORA, PH.D., ”Treating PTSD with MDMA-assisted Psychotherapy”
- LINNAE PONTE, “MAPS Harm Reduction and Research Update”
- THOMAS B. ROBERTS, PH.D., ”The Psychedelic Future of the Mind: Enabling Consilience, Enhancing Cognition, and Enriching the Humanities”
- DIANA SLATTERY, PH.D., “The Psychedelic Origins of Language”
See the schedule here.
ANTHONY BOSSIS, PH.D., Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at NYU School of Medicine and Director of Palliative Care Research for the NYU Cancer Anxiety Psilocybin Research Project
“Psilocybin Induced Mystical Experience for End-of-Life Existential and Spiritual Distress: The NYU Cancer Anxiety Study”
This presentation will review the existential and psycho-spiritual distress in persons with advanced cancer and at the end of life and present the NYU Psilocybin Cancer Anxiety Research Study, an FDA approved clinical trial that is currently investigating the efficacy of a psilocybin induced mystical experience treatment model with cancer patients.
Biography
Dr. Bossis is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at New York University School of Medicine and a clinical researcher at the NYU Bluestone Center For Clinical Research. He is co-principal investigator, Director of Palliative Care Research, and a session guide for the NYU Psilocybin Cancer Anxiety Research Project. He is a supervisor of psychotherapy at Bellevue Hospital - NYU Medical Center and the co-founder and former co-director of the Bellevue Hospital Palliative Care Service. He is a Diplomate of the American Academy of Pain Management and a member of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Care. Dr. Bossis is the co-author (with Drs. C. Grob and R. Griffiths) of the recent chapter, “Use of the Classic Hallucinogen Psilocybin for Treatment of Existential Distress Associated with Cancer” inPsychological Aspects of Cancer (Springer, 2013). Dr. Bossis maintains a private psychotherapy practice in New York City.
EROWID, EARTH AND FIRE, Earth Erowid, Technical Director, Erowid Center, Fire Erowid, Executive Director, Erowid Center
“State of the Stone 2013: A Rapidly Changing Landscape”
Earth and Fire will share their views on novel developments in the global underground recreational drug market as well as reflect on the state of the visionary sphere as of October 2013.
Biography
Fire Erowid is Executive Director of Erowid Center and Head Archivist of Erowid.org. She is the site’s primary information architect, designer, and editor as well as being responsible for fundraising and budget management. Fire has more than 12 years experience studying psychoactive plants and drugs. She has written hundreds of pages of information about these materials, authored numerous articles, spoken at academic and professional conferences, and has had her work cited by newspapers, education programs, college classes, and seminars around the world. Earth Erowid is Erowid Center’s Technical Director and the Chief Software Engineer of Erowid.org. He designs and implements the custom software systems necessary for managing the large flow of information through the site and is the lead editor responsible for scientific information published by Erowid. Earth has worked in the field of psychoactive information distribution for more than 12 years and has written extensively on the topic. He has co-authored academic posters, been published in both large and small publications, and been interviewed by major news organizations about his work.
YALILA ESPINOZA, PH.D., Sexual/spiritual counselor and 13 Moon initiation facilitator
“The Light & Shadow of Sexuality in Shamanism”
This presentation will explore the sexual ideologies in North and South America and how to maximize the benefits of sexual healing and minimize the harm of sexual abuse in ayahuasca ceremonies.
Biography
Yalila Espinoza is a spiritual health practitioner who integrates art, music, dreaming, movement, ancestral rituals & sacred plant teachings into dynamic embodied explorations. She received a PhD in Consciousness and Transformation and Spiritual Counseling training at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco. Her studies focused on indigenous shamanistic practices, sexual and reproductive health, and dreaming. For the last 10 years she has been engaged in academic studies, Amazonian shamanism using plant teachers, and many other trainings, such as the ISIS wheel approach with Gina Ogden, have nurtured her own spiritual-erotic awakening. All of these transformative experiences have inspired her forthcoming book titled: In The Belly of the Serpent: Sensual Wholeness with Plant Consciousness focused on how the purification and guidance of plant teachers are vital for sexual/spiritual health and liberation.
ALBERT GARCIA-ROMEU, PH.D., Postdoctoral Fellow at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
“Psilocybin in the Treatment of Smoking Addiction: An Update from the Johns Hopkins Research Team.”
Preliminary findings from 15 participants undergoing psilocybin-assisted smoking-cessation treatment will be presented, along with a brief discussion of the current state of the Johns Hopkins psilocybin research program, and implications for future research.
Biography
Albert Garcia-Romeu is a postdoctoral fellow at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he is currently researching the effects of psychedelic compounds in human subjects, with a focus on psilocybin as a potential treatment for addiction. He received his doctorate at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology where he studied the measurement and experience of self-transcendence in healthy adults.
RACHEL HARRIS, PH.D., Psychologist and author of 20-Minute Retreats: Revive Your Spirit in Just Minutes a Day with Simple, Self-Led Practices
“Ayahuasca Use in North America”
In the ayahuasca underground, people reported significant benefits from their ayahuasca experiences: greater joy in life, deeper relationship to the sacred and fewer negative emotions along with decreased alcohol use, healthier diet, improved mood, greater self-acceptance and improvements in their closest relationships.
Biography
Rachel Harris, Ph.D., is a psychologist with both clinical and research experience. She received an NIH New Investigator Award early in her career as a Research Scientist in the Miami VA Hospital and the Psychiatry Department at the University of Miami School of Medicine. Dr. Harris has published over forty scientific articles in professional journals. Her clinical experience began as an Esalen Residential Fellow and she has been in private practice as a psychotherapist for over 35 years. Rachel is the author of 20-Minute Retreats: Revive Your Spirit in Just Minutes a Day with Simple, Self-Led Practices and co-author of Teenagers Learn What They Live and the best-selling Children Learn What They Live.
DENNIS J. MCKENNA, PH.D., Assistant Professor, Center for Spirituality and Healing University of Minnesota and Director of Ethnopharmacology, Heffter Research Institute
“Ayahuasca Yesterday Today and Tomorrow: Perspectives on the Past & Future of Ayahuasca”
This talk will review the history of scientific investigation of ayahuasca, and speculate on future directions of research as it ‘goes global’.
Biography
Dennis McKenna is an ethnopharmacologist who has studied plant hallucinogens for over forty years. He is the author of many scientific papers, and co-author, with his brother Terence McKenna, of The Invisible Landscape: Mind, Hallucinogens, and the I Ching, and Psilocybin: Magic Mushroom Grower’s Guide. He holds a doctorate from the University of British Columbia, where his research focused on ayahuasca and oo-koo-hé, two hallucinogens used by indigenous peoples in the Northwest Amazon. He received post-doctoral research fellowships in the Laboratory of Clinical Pharmacology, National Institute of Mental Health, and in the Department of Neurology, Stanford University School of Medicine. In 1990, he joined Shaman Pharmaceuticals as Director of Ethnopharmacology, and in 1993 became the Aveda Corporation’s Senior Research Pharmacognosist. Dennis has been an adjunct assistant professor at the Center for Spirituality and Healing at the University of Minnesota since 2001, where he teaches courses in ethnopharmacology and botanical medicine. He has taught summer field courses in Peru and Ecuador, and has conducted fieldwork throughout the upper Amazon. He is a founding board member of the Heffter Research Institute, a non-profit organization focused on the investigation of the potential therapeutic uses of psychedelic medicines.
MARCELA OT’ALORA, PH.D., Installation artist, psychotherapist, and Principal Investigator of MAPS’ Phase 2 MDMA-assisted psychotherapy study
“Treating PTSD with MDMA-assisted Psychotherapy”
This talk will deal with one way of treating PTSD according to the current Phase II study in Boulder, Colorado.
Biography
Marcela Ot’alora G. was born and raised in Colombia and now lives in Boulder, Colorado. She has a MA in Transpersonal Psychology and a MFA in Fine Arts. Marcela is an Installation artist and has an innovative private psychotherapy practice in Boulder. For the first 15 years of her career as an artist she taught at all levels and became specifically interested in the use of visual arts as a tool for working with trauma with at-risk youth. The lives and experiences of the youth she worked with inspired her to pursue a graduate degree in psychology. She has dedicated her professional life to the investigation and research of trauma, specifically the use of MDMA for the treatment of PTSD. In her private practice she incorporates somatic and visualization techniques to help process and Integrate traumatic experiences. Marcela worked as a co-therapist in the first government approved MDMA-assisted psychotherapy study in Spain and is currently Principal Investigator of MAPS’ Phase 2 MDMA-assisted psychotherapy study in Boulder, Colorado.
LINNAE PONTE, Executive and Clinical Research Assistant / Harm Reduction Coordinator
“MAPS Harm Reduction and Research Update”
Linnae will present an update on MAPS’ clinical research and harm reduction programs.
Biography
Linnae earned her BA in Biological Psychology from New College of Florida in May 2010 where she defended her thesis, which investigated the impact of sleep disturbance in the pathogenesis of depression in a sample of 360 students. During her undergraduate years, Linnae assisted data collection and analysis of various projects at University of South Florida’s Cardiovascular Psychophysiology Laboratory, MOTE Marine Mammal Aquarium Psychophysical Laboratory, East-West College of Natural Medicine, and the West Mamprusi Civic Union in Ghana, West Africa. Linnae served as New College’s Counseling & Wellness Center Student Representative and is continuing her studies through CIIS’ Integral Counseling Psychology Weekend Program.
THOMAS B. ROBERTS, PH.D., Professor Emeritus of Educational Psychology in the Department of Leadership, Educational Psychology and Foundations at Northern Illinois University
“The Psychedelic Future of the Mind: Enabling Consilience, Enhancing Cognition, and Enriching the Humanities”
While psychedelics’ benefits in psychotherapy and the arts are well known, we will sample their even vaster implications for consilience, cognitive enhancement and intelligence, experimental religious studies and philosophy, and the liberal arts and sciences.
Biography
Thomas B. Roberts, A.B, Hamilton College, M.A, University of Connecticut, Ph.D. Stanford.A tenured, full professor of educational psychology, Roberts has been studying psychoactive plants and chemicals since attending graduate school at Stanford University where he studied humanistic psychology for its applications to learning and mental health. His work since then has focused on transpersonal psychology, the study of mystical and ego-transcendent mind-body states. Dr. Roberts currently teaches a special topics honors seminar, “Psychedelic Mindview.” He was a co-founder of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, the Council on Spiritual Practices, and the International Transpersonal Association. He serves as editor of the “Featured Syllabus” section for the Journal of Drug Education and Awareness.
DIANA SLATTERY, PH.D., Poetry and fiction writer and author of “Bizarre Births”
“The Psychedelic Origins of Language”
From glossolalia to muti-dimensional scripts, the unique, sometimes bizarre linguistic phenomena encountered by some in altered states of consciousness point to the co-evolution of language and consciousness.
Biography
Diana Reed Slattery’s writing career began with poetry and fiction in the print world, publishing in magazines and journals such as Georgia Review, New England Review and Breadloaf Quarterly, Fiction International, Antioch Review, Exile, Groundswell, and Kansas Quarterly. She has been anthologized in New World Writing, New Campus Writing, Outlaw Visions, and Golden Horses. Her story, “Bizarre Births” (1988) was included in the Georgia Review’s finalist entry for the National Magazine Award. In the same time period, she received an Honorable Mention in the Pushcart Prize (short fiction) and in The Best American Short Stories. Her short story collection, “Bizarre Births“, was a finalist for the Flannery O’Conner Award for short fiction.
2012 Speakers
Alphabetical by last name:
- MATTHEW BAGGOTT, PH.D., “Beyond Fear: The Effects of MDMA in Humans”
- ALEXANDER BELSER, “The Rule of Three from NYU: (1) A patient speaks, (2) A proposed narrative study of patient experiences, and (3) Recent findings from the NYU Psilocybin Cancer Anxiety Study”
- AMY EMERSON, “MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy for PTSD Research: Bridging Biology and Psychology”
- KEVIN FEENEY, J.D., “Ayahuasca & Law: International Perspective”
- CHARLES S. GROB, M.D., “Why Psychedelics Matter”
- ROMAN HANIS, “Amazonian Grass Roots Research on Entheogen-based healing of Physical Pathologies”
- JAMES KENT, “Psychedelic Information Theory: Mapping the Limits of Human Perception and Imagination”
- MARIAVITTORIA MANGINI, Ph.D., FNP, “Gender and Psychedelics: Exploring Women’s Experience”
- RALPH METZNER, PH.D., “Psychoactive Substances in Shamanism and Psychotherapy”
- SIDARTA RIBEIRO, PH.D., “Seeing with the Eyes Shut: Neural Basis of Enhanced Visual Imagery following Ayahuasca Ingestion”
More details…:
MATTHEW BAGGOTT, PH.D., postdoctoral fellow in psychiatric genetics at the University of Chicago
“Beyond Fear: The Effects of MDMA in Humans”
Dr. Baggott will discuss new findings on how MDMA and related drugs alter emotions and social interactions in people.
Biography
Baggott is a neuroscientist who has been studying the perceptual and emotional effects of drugs like MDMA in healthy human volunteers for over 12 years.
ALEXANDER BELSER, Fellow, New York University, Department of Applied Psychology
“The Rule of Three from NYU: (1) A patient speaks, (2) A proposed narrative study of patient experiences, and (3) Recent findings from the NYU Psilocybin Cancer Anxiety Study”
Human stories are powerful. Patient-driven stories have the ability to convey complex psychospiritual experiences in a way that raw data may not. First, a participant who has received psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy in the NYU study will share her experiences as a patient. Secondly, I will introduce a new study exploring the inner experiences of patients who have received psilocybin and conceptual challenges. Finally, I will share recent findings from the study, and speak about my experience as a “young investigator” in the field of psychedelic research.
Biography
Alexander Belser, M.Phil. is a Fellow in the Department of Applied Psychology at New York University (NYU). He graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a bachelor’s degree from Georgetown University. He was awarded a Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) degree from Cambridge University, and studied clinical psychology at Teachers College, Columbia University. Alexander serves as the Administrative Director of the New York University Psilocybin Cancer Project, a Phase II randomized double blind placebo-controlled crossover study investigating the effect of psilocybin on end-of-life anxiety in patients with advanced cancer. Alexander has also authored or co-authored peer-reviewed articles appearing in publications such as the APA Journal of Family Psychology and the Oxford Handbook of Prosocial Behavior. His research interests at NYU include counseling lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) adults and youth, identifying risk and protective factors for suicidal behaviors among LGBT youth. Broader research interests include the study of ecstatic human experiences, in the psychological tradition of William James and Abraham Maslow.
AMY EMERSON, Director of Clinical Research, Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies
“MDMA-Assisted Psychotherapy for PTSD Research: Bridging Biology and Psychology”
In this discussion we will take a quick look at the overall structure of a clinical research program and the steps/time and strategy needed to take MDMA from experimental to prescription. I will also provide an overview of the exciting progress of MAPS MDMA/PTSD studies to date with a review of study results so far. After taking a look at the big picture of the clinical studies we will dive into what happens in the actual treatment. We will look at why might be happening on a biological level and how this relates to the therapeutic process. What are the elements of the therapy and how do we try to standardize the process while leaving room for the individual therapist and participant.
Biography
Amy earned her BS in genetics and cell biology from Washington State University. She has worked in clinical development and research for the last 15 years in the fields of immunology (Applied Immune Sciences), oncology (RPR), and most recently in vaccine development (Chiron and Novartis). Amy has worked with MAPS as a volunteer since 2003 facilitating the development of the MDMA clinical program. She is currently working as Director of Clinical Research and is involved with creating the structure needed to support the growing needs of the clinical operations group and MAPS clinical research studies.
KEVIN FEENEY, J.D., Washington State University
“Ayahuasca & Law: International Perspective”
Religions have established a global presence; as a result, many nations are faced with the predicament of balancing the interests of these religious minorities with the international “war on drugs.” On the international stage, three prominent regulatory themes have emerged in response to the expansion of ayahuasca religions. The first concerns the scope of international treaties regarding plant-based psychoactive substances. The second concerns the scope of religious liberty and the problem of determining religious legitimacy. The final theme addresses the potential dangers of ayahuasca to health and public safety. Each of these themes will be explored using a variety of legal cases from Europe and the U.S. in order to illustrate the variety of legal outcomes, the reasoning behind these different legal decisions, and to discuss potential legal trends regarding religious use of ayahuasca in an international context.
Biography
Kevin Feeney, J.D., M.A., received his law degree from the University of Oregon in 2005, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Anthropology at Washington State University, where he is studying the religious use of psychoactive plants. His research interests include the study of folkloric and archaeological evidence for traditional uses of psychoactive mushrooms, and examining legal and regulatory issues surrounding the modern religious and cultural use of psychoactive substances, with an emphasis on ayahuasca and peyote. He is co-author, with Richard Glen Boire, of Medical Marijuana Law (2007).
CHARLES S. GROB, M.D., Professor of Psychiatry and Pediatrics at the UCLA School of Medicine and the Director of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
“Why Psychedelics Matter”
This talk will explore twenty years of research experience and will examine historical and contemporary contexts of psychedelic use, the significance of medical research in revealing the potential for therapeutic use and the need for reducing harm among non-clinical users.
Biography
Over the past twenty years Dr. Grob has conducted approved clinical research investigations of MDMA, ayahuasca and psilocybin, and he has published extensively in the psychiatric and neuroscience literatures on the range of effects and implications of psychedelics.
ROMAN HANIS, Director, Paititi Institute, Iquitos, Peru
“Amazonian Grass Roots Research on Entheogen-based healing of Physical Pathologies”
The main focus of our work at the Paititi Institute is to implement the original, indigenous healing and spiritual practices of the sacred and medicinal plants as a viable healing alternative in the western society. This talk will be about Amazonian grass roots research on entheogen-based healing of physical pathologies.
Biography
Roman Hanis is dedicated to the study and implementation of the many deep transformative healing methods that have been in use for thousands of years, paying special focus to the construction of intercultural bridges in the Western natural alternative approach to health with the Amazonian, Andean & Eastern healing spiritual traditions. Using these very traditions, Roman was fortunate enough to be cured of a terminal, genetic illness 10 years ago. The non-conceptual universal essence of these tools and the wisdom behind them are being integrated into western culture by Roman through his daily healing practices, aimed at providing maximum benefit of the profound re-emergence of ancestral values in our modern world.
JAMES KENT, author of ‘Psychedelic Information Theory: Shamanism in the Age of Reason‘
“Psychedelic Information Theory: Mapping the Limits of Human Perception and Imagination”
The capacity of the human imagination is widely considered to be infinite, but the reality is that human perception is limited, flawed, and held together by illusions of predictive analysis. Psychedelic Information Theory poses questions that have not yet been considered by modern science, such as “What is the functional capacity of human perception?” and “How does the information quality of perception change as we move through waking, dreaming, or hallucinating states?” Various methods for defining the capacity of human perception are explored, and definite limits on human imagination are proposed.
Biography
James Kent is a software engineer and writer specializing in neuroscience and psychedelic research. He is the author, most recently of ‘Psychedelic Information Theory: Shamanism in the Age of Reason‘
MARIAVITTORIA MANGINI, Ph.D., FNP, family nurse midwife for twenty five years
“Gender and Psychedelics: Exploring Women’s Experience”
In what ways do women report that their social experiences in relation to psychedelics are different from those of men? How does the evolving narrative of psychedelic exploration represent the experiences and contributions of women? What might account for any gender disparities in the psychedelic community?
Biography
Mariavittoria Mangini is one of the founders of the Women’s Visionary Council, and a long-time student of the impact of psychedelic experiences on her contemporaries.
RALPH METZNER, PH.D., psychotherapist, author, psychedelic pioneer, philosopher, Professor Emeritus at California Institute of Integral Studies
“Psychoactive Substances in Shamanism and Psychotherapy”
This talk will review and compare the experiences and uses of ayahuasca in traditional Amazonian shamanic healing practices and contemporary contexts; the use of psilocybe mushrooms in historical, indigenous Mesoamerican culture for vision seeking and their contemporary applications (as psilocybin) in pre-dying preparation; the uses of iboga root in African initiation ceremonies and contemporary treatment of drug addiction. Emphasis will be on considering not only the drug effect, but the set and setting of the experience, and the underlying worldview of the individual and the culture (for example, about the after-life).
Biography
Ralph Metzner, Ph.D. is a recognized pioneer in psychological, philosophical and cross-cultural studies of consciousness and its transformations. He collaborated with Leary and Alpert in classic studies of psychedelics at Harvard University in the 1960s, co-authored The Psychedelic Experience and was editor of The Psychedelic Review. He is a psychotherapist and Professor Emeritus at the California Institute of Integral Studies, where he was also the Academic Dean for ten years in the 1980s. His books include The Unfolding Self, The Well of Remembrance, Green Psychology, The Expansion of Consciousness, Alchemical Divinationand Mind Space and Time Stream. He is the editor of two collections of essays on the pharmacology, anthropology and phenomenology of ayahuasca and of psilocybin mushrooms. He is also the president and co-founder of the Green Earth Foundation, dedicated to healing and harmonizing the relations between humanity and the Earth. More information on the Green Earth Foundation can be found here: www.greenearthfound.org.
SIDARTA RIBEIRO, PH.D., neuroscience professor and director, Brain Institute, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
“Seeing with the Eyes Shut: Neural Basis of Enhanced Visual Imagery following Ayahuasca Ingestion”
In this talk, Dr. Ribeiro will discuss results obtained with functional magnetic resonance imaging, showing that Ayahuasca “visions” stem from the concerted activation, during voluntary imagery, of an extensive network of cortical areas involved with vision, memory, and intention.
Biography
Sidarta Ribeiro, Ph.D. holds a Bachelors degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Brasilia (1993), a Masters in Biophysics from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (1994), and a Ph.D. in Animal Behavior from the Rockefeller University (2000). He performed post doctoral studies in Neurophysiology at Duke University (2000-2005). Currently he is full professor of Neuroscience at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), and director of the Brain Institute of UFRN. He has experience in the areas of neuroethology, molecular neurobiology, and multi-electrode neurophysiology, and works mainly in the following areas: sleep, dreaming and memory; immediate genes and neuronal plasticity; vocal communication in birds and primates; and symbolic competence in non-human animals. He is greatly interested in the study of the neural bases of consciousness and its alteration, including the investigation of the ayahuasca experience. He has also been involved in the public debate on the medicinal uses and the legalization of cannabis in Brazil
2011 Speaker Biographies & Abstracts
Alphabetical by last name.
Stephan Beyer, Ph.D.
“Ayahuasca, Cognitive Psychology, and the Ontology of Hallucination”
There is no doubt that the sacred plant ayahuasca can produce hallucinations under just about any definition of the term — visual experiences that are solid, detailed, three-dimensional, animated, interactive, and embedded in ordinary perceptual space; auditory experiences that are immediate, external, directional, locatable in space, and often coordinated with visual experiences. These experiences are similar in striking ways to lucid dreams, DMT journeys, scopolamine overdose, out-of-body experiences, false awakenings, waking dreams, apparitions, eidetic visualization, and active imagination — what we can call “visionary experiences,” all characterized to a lesser or greater degree of presentness, detail, externality, and three-dimensional explorable spacefulness. We will discuss what contributions current cognitive psychology can make to our understanding of these experiences, and the ontological implications of the ability of ayahuasca to collapse the boundary between the real and unreal, the world and the imagination.
Biography
Stephan V. Beyer, Ph.D. — scholar, adventurer, and expert on both jungle survival and plant hallucinogens — is the author of Singing to the Plants, “the best book on ayahuasca yet” and “the most comprehensive examination of Amazonian shamanism ever written.” Steve studied wilderness survival among the indigenous peoples of North and South America, and sacred plant medicine with traditional herbalists in North America and curanderos in the Upper Amazon, where he studied the healing plants with doña María Tuesta Flores and received coronación by banco ayahuasquero don Roberto Acho Jurama. With doctoral degrees in both religious studies and psychology, Steve lived for a year and a half in a Tibetan monastery in the Himalayas, and has undertaken numerous four-day and four-night solo vision fasts in the desert wildernesses of New Mexico. He has studied the use of ayahuasca and other sacred plants in the Amazon, peyote in ceremonies of the Native American Church, and huachuma in Peruvian mesa rituals. He can be reached at [email protected].
Jim Fadiman, Ph.D.
“New Frontiers In Psychedelic Research: Letting go of the medical model”
Looking beyond the current resurgence in psychedelic studies about healing specific conditions, we will explore the restoration of basic freedoms: to experience one’s connection to the Divine, to explore dimensions of oneself that can lead to healing and re-connection to the natural world, and the right to use the best tools available to solve scientific and technical problems. We will review some ”best practices”: current entheogenic trainings, as well as how to use psychedelics as tools for physicists, mathematicians, architects, etc. We will present preliminary research findings on micro-doses that may act as all chakra enhancers and ongoing research studies including those done at prior Horizon and other psychedelic conferences. Members at this conference will have the chance to participate in the current national user survey project.
Biography
James Fadiman, Ph.D., co-founder of and teacher at the Institute for Transpersonal Psychology, has also taught at San Francisco State, Brandeis and Stanford. He is a management consultant, workshop leader, sits on corporate boards and has written textbooks, novels, poems and a play. He has been involved in psychedelic research - spiritual, psychotherapeutic and scientific - since the 1960’s.
Roy S. Haber, LLB
“Legal Issues Regarding the Santo Daime Church”
I will discuss the evolution of the Santo Daime Church in Brazil which utilizes a tea called Ayahuasca including the studies done in Brazil that resulted in the Brazilian Government authorizing official use of the tea as the sacrament of the Church. We will trace the importation of the tea and establishment of Churches in the United States and the failed efforts to obtain agreement with the United States to permit the tea. We will discuss the legal and factual issues that arose in the federal court case highlighting the government’s intellectually bankrupt reasons for banning the tea, the importance of experts in such cases, and of understanding the the legal issues regarding “reliable science.” The second part of this talk, time permitting, will hone in on the issue of who has the burden of proof regarding the so-called risks associated with ingesting entheogens in various sets and settings. Are scientists required to establish through existing data that imbibing the tea has no risks, or is the burden on those who oppose the use of the tea or other entheogens to establish the level of known risks based on existing data, where “speculation” has become the common defense for banning the tea. Here, I am particularly speaking to the scientists in the audience who discuss “risk” as part of their work, because that work, in turn, is crucial to the evolution of the current paradigm which is to use these God-given plants for the spiritual evolution of the planet.
Biography
Roy S. Haber, LLB is a Eugene, Oregon-based attorney for the Santo Daime Church of Brazil. He is a practicing civil rights and environmental lawyer formerly with the Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights Under Law in Jackson, Mississippi, the Native American Rights Fund and Deputy Chief in the Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice under President Carter.
Matthew W. Johnson, Ph.D.
“Recent Findings from the Johns Hopkins Hallucinogen Research Group”
This talk will provide an overview of research with psilocybin and other hallucinogens conducted at Johns Hopkins, including very recent findings regarding salvinorin A (Salvia divinorum), optimal psilocybin dosage, mystical experience resulting from non-research administration of psilocybin, psilocybin and its relationship to headache, and psilocybin-occasioned personality change.
Biography
Matthew W. Johnson, Ph.D. is Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He received his Ph.D. in experimental psychology from the University of Vermont, and completed a fellowship in behavioral pharmacology at Johns Hopkins. He has received multiple grants as Principal Investigator from NIH to conduct research on the psychology and treatment of addiction. Current projects in this regard include studies examining the relationship between myopic decision-making and the high rates of sexual HIV risk behavior in cocaine addicted individuals, and a clinical trial examining the efficacy of the learning enhancer d-cycloserine in improving response to behavioral treatment of cocaine addiction. Dr. Johnson is also an expert in the assessment of psychoactive drug effects in humans, and in that regard has conducted human studies on numerous drugs including cocaine, benzodiazepines, GHB, nicotine, caffeine, alcohol, dextromethorphan, salvinorin A, and psilocybin. For eight years Dr. Johnson has conducted human research with psilocybin and other hallucinogenic/psychedelic drugs at Johns Hopkins. He was the lead author on a recent paper describing how to safely conduct human hallucinogen research, and recently published the first placebo controlled study showing psychoactive effects of salvinorin A (Salvia divinorum) in humans. Dr. Johnson’s expertise in the psychology of addiction and in the characterization of psychoactive drugs in humans is reflected in his service as a scientific reviewer for multiple NIH grant review panels and numerous scientific and medical journals. He has authored approximately 30 peer reviewed scientific publications. Dr. Johnson recently received the 2011 American Psychological Association Young Psychopharmcologist Award for recognition of excellence in research at the interface of pharmacology and psychology.
Ken Johnson
“Art Under the Influence: 1965 to Now”
Something unprecedented happened in America in the mid-1960s: LSD and other aggressively hallucinogenic drugs became available on a mass basis, and millions of people avidly consumed them in order to experience states of mind once reserved for small numbers of mystic seekers. This development spawned a terrifically energetic psychedelic culture, which quickly grew so popular as to become almost synonymous with mainstream entertainment. Meanwhile, the character of cutting edge visual art changed. No longer was art something just to appreciate for its aesthetic qualities. Traditional connoisseurship was out; consciousness-altering experience was in. Boundaries between conventional media dissolved. Hierarchical distinctions collapsed. Shamanism, Eastern religions, video and film entered the picture, and viewers entered into the space and time of art through illusionism, moving imagery and enveloping installations. My illustrated talk will consider how and why all this happened and what it means for today’s art and culture.
Biography
Ken Johnson is an independent writer and critic has been reviewing visual art for the New York Times since 1997. In 2006-7 he was chief art critic for the Boston Globe. His book “Are You Experienced? How Psychedelic Culture Transformed Modern Art” (Prestel Books, 20011; artandpsychedelix.com) is the first attempt at a serious and in depth assessment of the influence of psychedelic experience and culture on American art of the past half century. e-mail: [email protected] website: artandpsychedlix.com
Biatriz Caiuby Labate, Ph.D.
“Ayahuasca in a Global Context: Controversies, Public Debate, and Regulation”
This presentation will address the internationalization of ayahuasca, a psychoactive substance made generally from the plants Banisteriopsis caapi and Psychotria viridis. Ayahuasca has traditionally been used in indigenous, mestizo shamanic, and religious rituals in South America. In the last 20 years, its use has spread beyond the Amazon to the world, and has been accompanied by great controversy. This presentation will analyze the public debate around the expansion of the use of this substance. It will contemplate the discussions in media and society around legalization, religious freedom, cultural diversity, and health risks. This analysis makes use of ethnographic fieldwork in the main new contexts of use of this substance, such as ayahuasca tourism in Peru, and the expansion of the Brazilian ayahuasca religions (Santo Daime and UDV) around the world.
Biography
Beatriz (Bia) Caiuby Labate has a Ph.D. in Social Anthropology from the Universidade Estadual de Campinas (Unicamp), Campinas, Brazil. Her main areas of interest are the study of psychoactive substances, drug policies, shamanism, ritual, and religion. Currently she is a Research Associate at the Institute of Medical Psychology, Heidelberg University and a member of the Collaborative Research Center (SFB 619) “Ritual Dynamics - Socio-Cultural Processes from a Historical and Culturally Comparative Perspective.” She is also researcher with the Nucleus for Interdisciplinary Studies of Psychoactives (NEIP) and editor of its website (www.neip.info). She is author, co-author and co-editor of seven books, two with English translations, and one journal special edition. Her book “A Reinvenção do Uso da Ayahuasca nos Centros Urbanos” (Mercado de Letras, 2004) received the prize for Best Master’s Thesis in Social Sciences from the National Association for Graduate Studies in Social Science (ANPOCS) in 2000. For more information, see: www.bialabate.net
Nicolas Langlitz, Ph.D.
“Lullaby for a Mouse: Anthropological Observations of an Animal Model of Psychosis”
For about three decades, anthropologists have worked towards exoticizing the West – for example, by studying scientific laboratories. At the center of the ethnographic research presented in this talk are modern Americans trying to understand schizophrenia by startling mice, rats, and guinea pigs on hallucinogenic drugs. Since the 1950s, these substances have been used in psychiatric research to model mental disorders such as schizophrenia in nonhuman animals. At the same time, however, anthropologists found that the effects of psychedelics were contingent on so-called “cultural determinants,” better known by Timothy Leary’s phrase “set and setting.” Based on ethnographic fieldwork in a contemporary neuropsychopharmacology laboratory, the presentation will show how these nonpharmacological factors also modulate hallucinogen action in animals. It discusses how an animal model of mental illness affected by such “cultural determinants” makes us rethink what it means to be human today.
Biography
Nicolas Langlitz, Ph.D., is assistant professor at the Department of Anthropology of the New School for Social Research in New York. His work focuses on psychopharmacology, especially the current revival of psychedelic research, and the epistemic culture of neurophilosophy. He studied medicine and philosophy and received doctoral degrees in medicine (Berlin) and anthropology (Berkeley). He published a book on the psychoanalyst Jacques Lacan’s practice of variable-length sessions (Die Zeit der Psychoanalyse: Lacan und das Problem der Sitzungsdauer, 2005). The manuscript for a second book, tentatively titled Neuropsychedelia: The Revival of Hallucinogen Research since the Decade of the Brain, has just been completed.
Juan R. Sanchez-Ramos, M.D., Ph.D.
“Effects of Psilocybin and other Selective Serotonin Agonists on Hippocampal Neurogenesis”
Decline in thinking processes, in particular memory, occurs naturally with aging and is greatly accelerated in dementing illnesses like Alzheimer’s Disease(AD). Even young individuals with healthy intellects value enhancers of memory, attention and problem-solving ability. There are a host of “nootropic” or pro-cognitive agents (“smart drugs”, “brain enhancers”) touted for their ability to enhance various, but not all, cognitive processes. These include nutritional supplements (CoQ10, creatine, acetyl-L-carnitine), nicotine, caffeine, Ginkgo biloba, ergoloid mesylates (Hydergine), psychomotor stimulants (e.g. amphetamines), anti-depressants, psychedelics (psilocybin, mescaline and low doses of LSD) and many more. We are especially interested in studying potential nootropic agents that work by increasing the generation of new neurons in brain. An important breakthrough in brain sciences has been the discovery that new brain cells (neurons) continue to be born throughout life in a structure of the brain known as hippocampus (HP). The hippocampus plays a critical role in learning and memory by converting short-term memories into long-term memories and is pivotal for the encoding, consolidation and retrieval of episodic memory. Several groups of scientists have shown that hippocampal-mediated learning and memory is related to the generation of new neurons in the adult brain. In rat experiments, inhibition of neurogenesis (birth and development of new neurons) with a toxic drug (used to destroy tumors) resulted in deficits in specific forms of memory. So it was logical to predict that promotion of neurogenesis would improve some aspects of memory and cognition. The proposition that psilocybin impacts cognition and stimulates hippocampal neurogenesis is based on extensive evidence that serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine or 5-HT) acting on specific 5-HT receptor sub-types (most likely the 5-HT2A receptor) is involved in the regulation of neurogenesis in hippocampus. The in vitro and in vivo animal data is compelling enough to explore whether psilocybin will enhance neurogensis and result in measurable improvements in learning. In this presentation the effects of a schedule of psilocybin and serotonin agonist administration on hippocampal neurogenesis will be reviewed. The relevance of these findings to enhancement of some aspects of memory and learning will be discussed.
Biography
Dr. Juan (Zeno) R. Sanchez-Ramos, M.D., Ph.D. received a B.S. Degree in Biology from the University of Chicago. After 3 years experience as a free lance artist in France, Spain and Denmark, he returned to the scholar’s life, earning a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Physiology from the University of Chicago in 1976 and a medical degree (M.D.) from the University of Illinois in 1981. He trained in Neurology at the University of Chicago and as a Fellow in Movement Disorders at the University of Miami. Currently, he is Professor of Neurology at the University of South Florida (USF) in Tampa where he holds the Helen Ellis Endowed Chair for Parkinson’s Disease Research. Dr. Sanchez-Ramos has been a staff Neurologist at the James Haley VA Medical Center since 1996. He is also the Director of the HDSA Center of Excellence at USF, a comprehensive clinic dedicated to patients with Huntington’s Disease. He is an Investigator in the NIH Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at the Bryd AD Institute at USF. In addition to teaching and attending patients with Movement Disorders, he directs a basic research laboratory at the Haley VA with active projects in neurodegeneration, neurotoxicology and adult stem cell biology. Dr. Sanchez-Ramos is a member of the Heffter Research Institute Scientific Advisory Panel. He has had a long-standing interest in the history of hallucinogenic drug use in different cultures as well as in their untapped potential in experimental therapeutics. Most recently he is investigating the relationship between neurogenesis in adult brain and the use of tryptaminergic drugs. He is married to Catherine O’Neill Sanchez and has three children, Zachary, Zoe and Sofia.
Berra Yazar-Klosinski, Ph.D.
“MAPS’ International Psychedelic Clinical Research: The Past, Present, and Future”
MAPS is conducting clinical research both in the U.S. and internationally to develop MDMA-assisted psychotherapy into a prescription medicine in close partnership with the FDA. This presentation will briefly cover what we have learned from past clinical trials and how we are applying these observations to the design of current trials in preparation for an End of Phase 2 meeting with the FDA. This presentation will discuss what Phase 3 studies may look like in order to facilitate FDA approval of MDMA for marketing. A thorough understanding of the benefits and risks of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy are required in order to envision a future where MDMA can be administered as a prescription medicine.
Biography
Berra Yazar-Klosinski, Ph.D., earned her Ph.D. in Molecular, Cell and Developmental Biology from University of California at Santa Cruz, where she served as treasurer and president of the Graduate Student Association. After attending Stanford University for a B.S. in Biology, she worked as a Research Associate with Geron Corporation on telomerase activation and with Millennium Pharmaceuticals on Phase I clinical trials for Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Berra enjoys working with researchers and the clinical operations team at MAPS to design and facilitate clinical research studies.
2010: September 24-26
Annie Oak, Founder of the Women’s Visionary Congress and the Women’s Entheogen Fund
Clare S. Wilkins, Director, Pangea Biomedics ibogaine clinic, Mexico
Dale Pendell, Ethnobotanist and author of Pharmako trilogy
Don Lattin, Author of The Harvard Psychedelic Club
Erik Davis, Author of Nomad Codes, TechGnosis, The Visionary State and Led Zeppelin IV
J.P. Harpignies, Author of Political Ecosystems, Double Helix Hubris and Delusions of Normality and associate producer of the Bioneers conference
Jeffrey Guss, M.D. Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, NYU School of Medicine and Investigator and Director of Training, NYU Cancer Anxiety Psilocybin Project
Jill Harris, Managing Director, Public Policy, Drug Policy Alliance
John Perry Barlow, Lyricist, essayist and co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation
Mary P. Cosimano, MSW, Graduate Social Worker, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Matthew W. Johnson, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Neal M. Goldsmith, Ph.D., Psychologist and author of Psychedelic Healing: The Promise of Entheogens for Psychotherapy and Spiritual Development
Rick Strassman, M.D., Author of DMT: The Spirit Molecule and Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry, University of New Mexico School of Medicine
Torsten Passie, M.D., Assistant Professor, Consciousness Studies, Hanover Medical School, Germany
2009: September 25-27
Alicia Danforth, Clinical psychedelic researcher and writer working on Dr. Charles Grob’s Harbor-UCLA cancer anxiety trial with psilocybin
Earth Erowid and Fire Erowid, Co-founders of Erowid Center, an IRS-approved 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization.
Robert Jesse, Organizer of the Council on Spiritual Practices, which aims to shift modernity’s awareness and practices with respect to primary religious experience.
Andy Letcher, Freelance writer, academic lecturer and folk-musician living in Oxford, UK and the author of the critically acclaimed Shroom: A Cultural History of the Magic Mushroom.
Valerie Mojeiko, worked with MAPS-the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies since 2000, facilitating research of the healing potentials of MDMA (Ecstasy), LSD, Ibogaine and other psychedelic medicines.
William Richards, Ph.D., psychologist in the Department of Psychiatry, Bayview Medical Center, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
Stephen Ross, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry and director of the Division of Alcoholism and Drug Abuse at Bellevue Hospital, and associate director for education at New York University School of Medicine in New York City.
Franz X. Vollenweider, M.D., head of the Psychopharmacology and Brain Imaging Unit at the University Hospital of Psychiatry (Burghölzli) and lecturer in the School of Medicine, University of Zurich.
Bob Wold, Founder and President of Clusterbusters, Inc., a non-profit organization that supports research on the use of psilocybin to treat cluster headaches
2008: September 19-21
Robert Forte, Author Entheogens and the Future of Religion
Rick Doblin, Ph.D., Founder/president of MAPS
Alex Grey, Artist and co-founder of Chapel of Sacred Mirrors
Allyson Grey, Artist and co-founder of Chapel of Sacred Mirrors
Roland Griffiths, Ph.D., MDMA and psilocybin researcher, Professor of Behavioral Biology and Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
John Halpern, M.D., MDMA, psilocybin and peyote researcher, Associate Director of Substance Abuse Research at Harvard Medical School
Sean Helfritsch & Isaiah Saxon, Video artists, creators of Bjork’s Wanderlust 3D music video
Alan Hunt-Badiner, Co-editor of Zig Zag Zen: Buddhism and Psychedelics
Dan Merkur, Psychoanalyst, author of The Ecstatic Imagination
Dimitri Mugianis, Ibogaine therapist
David Nichols, Ph.D., founder of Heffter Research Institute, Distinguished Chair in Pharmacology at Purdue University
Daniel Pinchbeck, Author of Breaking Open the Head and 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl
Sasha and Ann Shulgin, Psychedelics elders, authors of Tikhal and Pikhal
2007: October 27
Kenneth Alper, MD, member of the faculty of the New York University School of Medicine where he currently holds the rank of Associate Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology.
Rick Doblin, Ph.D., Founder (in 1986) and president of MAPS.
Neal M. Goldsmith, Ph.D., Master’s degree in counseling from New York University and a Ph.D. in psychology from Claremont Graduate University.
Alex and Allyson Grey, Artists and co-founders of the Chapel of Sacred Mirrors in New York City.
Julie Holland, MDm, board certified psychiatrist in New York City.
Dr. Holland, Authored an extensive research paper on MDMA (ecstasy), resulting in multiple television appearances, forensic consultations, and a book, Ecstasy: The Complete Guide.
Allison McKim, Co-director of DanceSafe’s NYC chapter for 4 years. She researched and developed harm-reduction strategies to address MDMA-related water intoxication.
Michael Mithoefer, MD, psychiatrist in practice in Charleston, SC, and is Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at The Medical University of South Carolina.
Ethan Nadelmann, Ph.D, founder and executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, the leading organization in the United States promoting alternatives to the war on drugs.
Andrew Sewell, MD recently completed a three-year research fellowship in Alcohol and Drug Abuse at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School, where he studied the response of cluster headache to psychedelic drugs such as psilocybin, LSD, and LSA.