Scientific research into the therapeutic potential of psychedelics continues to flourish in a global Cambrian Explosion of drugs, indications and approaches.

North America alone now has over 30 academic research centers, with another 20 globally across Latin America and Europe. In addition to academic centers, nearly 30 drug developers are engaged in Phase 2 or Phase 3 trials with psychedelic drug candidates, with yet more in Phase 1 and preclinical studies.

While it is no longer possible to cover this embarrassment of riches comprehensively within a single conference, this session highlights the most important findings, trends, and questions that have emerged over the past year.

As the profile of psychedelics continues to grow in both clinical discourse and popular culture, the quest for the underlying mechanisms of their effects has arrived as a matter of public interest.

While the new generation of psychedelic clinical research relies upon trial designs and analysis tools that would be familiar to a time traveller from the 1990s, the field of neuroscience has been radically transformed by technological advances over the last two decades.

However, while many neuroscientists have been fascinated by the enigma of psychedelics and the volume and granularity of data continues to grow, a consensus of how and why psychedelics “work” remains elusive.

In this session, we will hear the latest theories of neuroscientists who seek to understand the mysterious effects of psychedelics during their adventures inside the brain.

It has been eight years since the FDA first granted Breakthrough Therapy Designation to a number of promising Phase 2 trials that investigated the use of psychedelic drugs for the treatment of serious mental illness.

Today, numerous candidates have either completed or are in the midst of Phase 3 trials. An increasingly large and sophisticated body of trial data now exists, spanning a variety of drugs, indications, protocols, and populations.

In this session, we will hear findings and analysis of the most advanced trials, consider how trial outcomes might translate into effectiveness, safety, and durability in the real world, and what we will learn from the next round of trials in the year to come.

As psychedelic research into the treatment of the most widespread indications like depression, addiction, and PTSD reach maturity with large and sophisticated trials, academic institutions and drug developers are now beginning to investigate additional indications.

Could psychedelic medicine also help people suffering from mood and behavioral disorders such as obsessive-compulsive disorder, gambling addiction, eating disorders, bipolar disorder, and other serious mental illnesses?

Whether or not they prove successful, what can these studies tell us about the underlying mechanisms of psychedelics and pathology, and our conception of mental illness and its treatments?

One in six people worldwide suffer from neurological disorders such as chronic pain, Alzheimer’s disease, traumatic brain injury, and severe headaches. Many of these conditions have not seen significant advances in treatment for decades.

While psychedelic therapy is most associated with psychiatry and mood disorders such as depression, addiction and PTSD, a growing number of studies support the viability of psychedelic treatments for neurological disorders.

Whether or not psychedelic treatments prove effective in these arenas, early findings are already challenging commonly held assumptions about pathology, healing, biology, and psychology in both the psychedelic, psychiatry, and neurology communities.

Over the last twenty years, headlines have focused on the healing potential of psychedelic medicine as evidenced by a growing body of clinical trials and a stellar array of advocates.

However, below the fold, there is much to discuss about trials that have found negative, null, ambiguous, or middling outcome measures and case studies. Even within the most successful studies, there exist many hopeful participants for whom the treatment failed. And in some cases, properly administered treatments do result in adverse outcomes.

While ethical misconduct and its harms emerged as a hot topic recently, there has been greater reluctance to talk about the more mundane and statistically common negative scenarios.

Variable efficacy and safety outcomes are normal in the study and practice of medicine– just ask any surgeon or oncologist. Join us as we strengthen our understanding of psychedelic medicine by learning from data that may disappoint but is nonetheless valuable.

Full details to be announced