The Revolutionary Development of New Healing Modalities and Their Impact On the Future Of Mental Health

Join The Explorers Club on Monday, February 13th to explore the history and hard science of psychedelics and their future in modern medicine.

In recent years, psychedelic research has taken the world by storm. The media is sharing both cautionary tales, as well as promises of a panacea. But what does the future truly hold for these novel compounds?

Psychedelics aren’t just a single drug, they are a class of compounds that vary in chemical structure as well as mental, physical, and physiological effects when ingested. The effects of each molecule vary immensely based on dosage, and particularly with changes to set and setting: the mindset and environment under which a patient or user ingests the substance. This means they can also treat a whole host of ailments, the understanding of which we may have just scratched the surface.

Clinical systems, technology, cultivation facilities, media and educational entities all need to be developed simultaneously to prepare for the shifts that will occur over the next couple years of time to support this nascent industry.

We will be joined by doctors, a chemist, business owners, a patient, and researchers to dive into this complex space and answer some of the foundational questions that many have.

Streaming live here on explorers.org, our YouTube Channel, and our Facebook Live — Monday, February, 13th at 7:00 pm ET.

RESERVATIONS

This will be an in-person lecture at Explorers Club Headquarters.

In-person tickets are $15 for Members, and $30 for the General Public.

Check-in will begin at 6:00 pm, with a beer and wine reception from 6:00 – 7:00 pm

Speakers

Jonathan Sporn

Dr. Sporn is a Board Certified Psychiatrist educated and trained at Duke, Univ of Miami, Tufts, The Boston Psychoanalytic Institute, and Harvard University. After practicing psychiatry in Boston and doing research at Mass General Hospital, Dr. Sporn worked at the National Institutes of Health (NIMH) where he was Chief of the OCD Clinic and helped to start up the Mood and Anxiety Program, which progressed research on ketamine and glutamate in depression. Dr. Sporn left the NIMH for Johnson and Johnson where he worked on drug development in psychiatry and neurology. He then moved to Pfizer where he worked on the development of Lyrica and was the Clinical Disease Area Expert in Neuroscience focused on Psychiatry and Addictions and the Neuroscience External R&D (business development) Leader before exiting Pfizer to Found the Biotech company, Perception Neuroscience, which is developing arketamine in neuropsychiatry. Dr. Sporn Exited Perception Neuroscience to ATAI Life Science and was the Chief Science Officer. He has subsequently left Perception Neuroscience to Co-Found another Biotech company, Gilgamesh Pharmaceuticals, that is a collaboration with Columbia University developing novel psychedelic- inspired therapies as the next generation of therapies. Gilgamesh Pharma includes many medicinal chemists as well as experienced drug developers.

Maya Albert

Maya is a writer and operations expert who has experience in several industries. Before diving into the psychedelic space, she spent many years at the top of the coffee industry, her work earning her print coverage in publications such as Time Magazine and the Wall Street Journal.

Maya was first author of a 200+ page compressive report on psychedelics, covering history, policy, science, and investment landscape. Her book on the subject will be published early 2024. She leads the organization of a yearly psychedelic conference, which has run for four consecutive years. In 2022, she hosted the first ever Medical Psychedelic House of Davos, and returned in 2023 with the House of Health. Maya helps several other organizations through her operations consulting, including the Heroic Hearts Project and Synthesis Institute. In 2021, she participated in the medicalization of psychedelics as a patient in a clinical trial for safety and efficacy of psilocybin.

Dr. Rachel Yehuda

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, PTSD, and intergenerational trauma. 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. In 2020, Dr. Yehuda established and now directs the Center for Psychedelic Psychotherapy and Trauma Research.

Hamilton Morris

Hamilton Morris is a chemist, documentarian, and science journalist. He currently conducts chemistry research at Saint Joseph’s University in Philadelphia that is focused on the synthesis of new psychedelic drugs. He was the writer and director of the documentary series Hamilton’s Pharmacopeia where he explored the chemistry and traditions surrounding psychoactive drugs. His research has allowed him to study psychoactive plants, fungi, and chemicals as well as the culture that surrounds them in more than thirty countries using an interdisciplinary approach. His recent republishing of a book on Bufo alvarius raised more than $250,000 for basic research on Parkinson’s disease.