Advancing Psychedelic Research in Missouri: Clinical Trials, Implementation, and Access
Description
Missouri researchers are helping shape the future of psychedelic-assisted therapy through clinical research, implementation science, mental health services research, anthropology, and psychotherapy.
Join the Modern Health Coalition for a conversation with researchers from Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Missouri who are studying how psychedelic-assisted therapies work, how they may be introduced into clinical practice, and what will be needed to support safe, equitable access.
The panel will feature Dr. Ginger Nicol, Dr. Dani Adams, Dr. Leopoldo Cabassa, and Dr. Rebecca Lester, with discussion spanning clinical trials, brain imaging, implementation, health equity, community engagement, cultural context, and the experience of healing and treatment, and will be moderated by Dena Ladd, Founder of the Modern Health Coalition.
Panelists
Ginger E. Nicol, MD
Professor of Psychiatry
Founding Director of CHIRP
WashU School of Medicine
MHC Advisory Committee Member
Dr. Ginger Nicol is a professor of psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the founding director of the Center for Holistic Interdisciplinary Research in Psychedelics (CHIRP). Her research uses brain imaging and other precision methods to examine how psilocybin and other treatments affect the brain, behavior, and health. In 2020, she and her team began Washington University’s first modern clinical trial with psilocybin in healthy adults since the 1960s.
Dani Adams, PhD, LMSW
Assistant Professor
Director of C MO PAT
University of Missouri
MHC Advisory Committee Member
Dr. Dani Adams is an assistant professor in the University of Missouri School of Social Work and director of the Collaborative for Missouri Psychedelic-Assisted Therapy (C MO PAT). She uses implementation science to study how psychedelic-assisted therapy can move from promising research into clinical practice, with a focus on access and equitable adoption in healthcare settings.
Leopoldo J. Cabassa, PhD
Professor
Co-Director of CHIRP
Co-Director of CMHSR
WashU Brown School
Dr. Leopoldo Cabassa is a professor at Washington University’s Brown School of Social Work and co-director of the Center for Holistic Interdisciplinary Research in Psychedelics (CHIRP). An implementation scientist, he studies how emerging mental health treatments can be introduced effectively and equitably, with a focus on access, quality, community engagement, and health equity.
Rebecca Lester, PhD, MSW, LCSW
Professor of Sociocultural Anthropology and Co-Director of CHIRP
Assistant Vice Provost of Faculty Affairs and Diversity
WashU
Dr. Rebecca Lester is a professor of sociocultural anthropology, assistant vice provost of faculty affairs and diversity, and co-director of the Center for Holistic Interdisciplinary Research in Psychedelics (CHIRP) at Washington University. A medical and psychological anthropologist, licensed clinical social worker, and psychotherapist, she examines how people experience distress, healing, and treatment, as well as how cultural institutions shape approaches to mental health care.
Moderator
Dena Ladd, MPA
Founder, Modern Health Coalition