ALPS Podcast on Psychedelic Science

Rick Doblin, Ph.D., is the founder and president of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) [https://maps.org/mdma/]. He founded MAPS in 1986 and is considered the godfather of the current psychedelic renaissance.  Rick studied with Dr. Stanislav Grof [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/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.  It’s thanks to his MAPS [https://maps.org/] organization that MDMA is currently at phase 3 trial in the US and will be normally approved by the FDA to treat PTSD patients in 2024.  For more info on Rick Doblin :  * MAPS Founder and President [https://maps.org/people/rick-doblin/] * Twitter X : @RickDoblin [https://twitter.com/RickDoblin] * TED Talk : the future of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy [https://www.ted.com/talks/rick_doblin_the_future_of_psychedelic_assisted_psychotherapy] This interview was recorded during the Alps Conference 2023 on Psychedelic Science in Geneva, Switzerland in October 2023.  More info on the Alps Conference 2023 - ⁠Website⁠ [https://www.alpsconference.com/] - ⁠Twitter⁠ [https://twitter.com/ALPSconference] - ⁠Facebook⁠ [https://www.facebook.com/ALPS.Conference] - ⁠Instagram⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/alps.conference/] - ⁠Youtube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5VsKMG-EWZsrUf3qj8_UGg]

Michael Mithoefer, MD, is a psychiatrist living in Asheville, NC. He and his wife, Annie, completed the first MAPS-sponsored Phase Il clinical trial testing MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for crime-related PTSD, and subsequent studies with military veterans, firefighters and police officers, and a pilot study treating couples. He has been Medical Monitor for a series of Phase 2 trials which produced data that led to FDA breakthrough therapy designation. Since 2012 he and Annie have conducted training for research therapists, and  supervision of therapists in two recent, successful Phase 3 clinical trials.  For more info on Michael Mithoefer :  * MAPS : https://maps.org/news/media/michael-mithoefer-m-d-principal-investigator/ [https://maps.org/news/media/michael-mithoefer-m-d-principal-investigator/]  * LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-mithoefer-b15bb53b/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-mithoefer-b15bb53b/]  This interview was recorded during the Alps Conference 2023 on Psychedelic Science in Geneva, Switzerland in October 2023.  More info on the Alps Conference 2023 - ⁠Website⁠ [https://www.alpsconference.com/] - ⁠Twitter⁠ [https://twitter.com/ALPSconference] - ⁠Facebook⁠ [https://www.facebook.com/ALPS.Conference] - ⁠Instagram⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/alps.conference/] - ⁠Youtube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5VsKMG-EWZsrUf3qj8_UGg]

Vanja Palmers was born in Austria and grew up in Switzerland. His career as a student at the University of Zürich and as the founder of a successful business start up came to a sudden halt when he ingested a few micrograms of a certain fungi derivative aka LSD. After a few years of being  a Hippie and a Yogi, he ended up becoming a Zen person, specializing in being nobody special, making effort towards effortless, traceless praxis….  with mediocre success - Felsentor and Puregg (two meditation centers) as well as some animal rights campaigns and institutions have materialized.  For more info on Vanja Palmers:  * Descending the Mountain - a tender film exploring psilocybin and the nature of consciousness [https://descendingthemountain.org/] * Felsentor Meditation Center in Switzerland  [https://www.english.felsentor.ch/] * Puregg - Meditation Center in Austria [https://www.puregg.at/de/das-sind-wir.html] This interview was recorded during the Alps Conference 2023 on Psychedelic Science in Geneva, Switzerland in October 2023.  More info on the Alps Conference 2023 -⁠ ⁠Website⁠⁠ [https://www.alpsconference.com/] -⁠ ⁠Twitter⁠⁠ [https://twitter.com/ALPSconference] -⁠ ⁠Facebook⁠⁠ [https://www.facebook.com/ALPS.Conference] -⁠ ⁠Instagram⁠⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/alps.conference/] -⁠ ⁠Youtube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5VsKMG-EWZsrUf3qj8_UGg]

Abigail Calder is a PhD candidate at the University in Fribourg, Switzerland, where she heads a research project on the effects of LSD on neuroplasticity in healthy people. She also conducts research into the adverse effects of psychedelics and their underlying causes, as well as psychedelics’ effects on people’s values and well-being, and she recently joined the ALPS Foundation as its research coordinator. She completed her Master’s degree in neuroscience at the University of Bonn and holds a Bachelor’s in psychology from TU Dresden. For more info on Abigail Calder : * ⁠ [https://www.dppp.uzh.ch/en/researchgroups/juniorresearchgroups/psychedelic-research-therapy-development.html]Twitter X : @NeuroCalder [https://twitter.com/neurocalder]  * LinkedIn : https://www.linkedin.com/in/abigail-calder-bb68831aa/ [https://www.linkedin.com/in/abigail-calder-bb68831aa/]  * Fribourg University : https://www.unifr.ch/med/de/section/staff/all/people/323616/a8832 [https://www.unifr.ch/med/de/section/staff/all/people/323616/a8832] This interview was recorded during the Alps Conference 2023 on Psychedelic Science in Geneva, Switzerland in October 2023.  More info on the Alps Conference 2023 -⁠ ⁠Website⁠⁠ [https://www.alpsconference.com/] -⁠ ⁠Twitter⁠⁠ [https://twitter.com/ALPSconference] -⁠ ⁠Facebook⁠⁠ [https://www.facebook.com/ALPS.Conference] -⁠ ⁠Instagram⁠⁠ [https://www.instagram.com/alps.conference/] -⁠ ⁠Youtube⁠ [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5VsKMG-EWZsrUf3qj8_UGg]

This interview was recorded on 16.02.2023 for the ALPS Podcast on Psychedelic Science. More info on the ALPS Foundation - Website [https://www.alps.foundation/] - Twitter [https://twitter.com/ALPSconference] - Facebook [https://www.facebook.com/ALPS.Conference] - Instagram [https://www.instagram.com/alps.conference/] - Youtube [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5VsKMG-EWZsrUf3qj8_UGg] For over 15 years Dr. Ben Sessa has been at the forefront of psychedelic research in the UK through his affiliations with Imperial College London. He has worked for 30 years with patients in the field of addictions and trauma-related psychiatry. Ben has taken part in many psychedelics-related research projects at Bristol University, Cardiff University and Imperial College London, receiving and/or administering these compounds in legal research settings. He is now the Head of Psychedelic Medicine at Awakn Life Sciences, a company opening twenty high street psychedelic medical clinics throughout Europe, providing psychedelic psychotherapy for a wide range of psychiatric indications. More info on Dr. Sessa : * Twitter : https://twitter.com/BenSessa [https://twitter.com/BenSessa] * Website : http://www.drsessa.com/ [http://www.drsessa.com/] * Awakn Life Sciences : https://awaknlifesciences.com/ [https://awaknlifesciences.com/]