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RESEARCH ROOM

Interested in learning from Canadian researchers at the forefront of psychedelic science? Consider this your invitation to join the Research Room, our monthly online expert-led series. Register for free today!

The MAPS Canada Research Room is a monthly webinar series dedicated to showcasing cutting-edge Canadian research across diverse disciplines within the burgeoning field of psychedelic studies. Our mission is to democratize access to psychedelic science, and fostering inclusivity through knowledge translation and dissemination of academic knowledge in a more accessible manner.

Each research room session is an hour long, and provides researchers a platform through which they can dynamically engage with the audience about their current research. 

Interested in presenting or would like to see someone present? Click here for to sign up.

For more information email us at: researchroom@mapscanada.org

  • Meetings are held on Zoom
  • One Thursday, every month, 7 PM ET (4 PM PT) (see note)
  • Anyone with an interest in psychedelic science and research, anywhere in the world, is welcome to attend.
Check out all of our past Reseach Room sessions on the School of Psychedelics!

UPCOMING SESSIONS

April 16, 2026 ​

MAPS Canada Research Room presents:

Psychedelic microdosing: A primer on real-world practices and evidence from a randomized controlled trial for MDD

Thu, April 16th, 7pm EST / 4pm PST
Speaker Bio: Omer Syed is a PhD student within the Institute of Medical Science and Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto. Prior to beginning his doctoral studies, he completed an MSc in Medical Science at the University of Toronto. He is also a research analyst at the Canadian Centre for Psychedelic Science and a senior research associate at the Pneuma Science Center for Psychedelic Research. He has conducted psychedelic research across preclinical, clinical, and naturalistic contexts, and currently focuses on the use of ketamine and psilocybin as interventional approaches for difficult-to-treat depression. He is also interested in how extra-pharmacological factors (such as treatment expectations, set and setting, and previous life events) may influence the therapeutic effects to pharmacological treatments.
 

Talk Abstract:
Background: There is clinical interest in psychedelic microdosing and studying the practice in real-world settings can inform ecologically valid clinical study designs.

Aim: Provide an update on real-world microdosing practices using a recent global survey and share safety and efficacy results from a randomized controlled trial (RCT) on weekly psilocybin microdosing for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD).

Methods: The Global Psychedelic Survey 2025 was an online survey conducted in May 2025. The phase 2 RCT took place from July 2022 to December 2024. Participants were randomized 1:1 to first receive either 4 doses of double-blinded placebo or 4 doses of psilocybin. After the double-blind phase, all participants received 4 doses of open-label psilocybin. The primary outcome for depressive symptoms was change in the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) score.

Results: Across 5399 real-world consumers, psilocybin, LSD, and MDMA were most commonly microdosed. The ‘Fadiman protocol’ was the most endorsed dosing regimen. In the RCT, 39 participants with MDD first received either psilocybin (n=21) or placebo (n=18). There were significant reductions in PHQ-9 scores for both groups, and the difference between groups was not significant. There were no severe or serious treatment-emergent adverse events.

Conclusions: Microdosing is a popular practice. While safe and well tolerated, our trial found that weekly psilocybin microdosing was not more effective than placebo.

Omer Syed’s LinkedIn

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PAST SESSIONS

March 19, 2026 ​

MAPS Canada Research Room presents:

Psilocybin for comorbid Alcohol Use Disorder and Major Depressive Disorder: presentation of study protocol

Thu, March 19th, 7pm EST / 4pm PST
Dr Bernard Le Foll, MD PhD MCFP (AM), is a clinician-scientist specialized in drug addiction. He is Senior Scientist at CAMH. He is Chair of Addiction Psychiatry and Professor at University of Toronto. He is also the Vice-President Research and Academics and Chief Scientific Officer at the Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care. His multi-disciplinary research approach seeks to develop better treatment for addiction and understand the addiction neurobiology. He obtained >100 grants and published around 400 peer-reviewed scientific articles. He has led multiple clinical trials, develop clinical guidelines and has been invited to speak at Senate and House of Commons on addiction related issues. He got the first CIHR grant awarded to test psilocybin for addiction treatment Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a severe burden to global public health. Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is one of the most prevalent substance use disorders in Canada and the sixth leading risk factor for death and disability nationally. Psilocybin is a chemical compound that naturally occurs in certain species of mushrooms. Recently, psilocybin-assisted therapy (PAT) has emerged as a promising treatment for various mental health conditions (including MDD and AUD). Therefore, the apparent efficacy of psilocybin for both MDD and AUD makes psilocybin a perfect candidate for treatment of comorbid AUD-MDD. However, to date no trial have been published on use of psilocybin for both MDD and AUD. This presentation will present the design of a clinical trial that has been funded by CIHR to test psilocybin for comorbid MDD and AUD. Participants with current diagnosis of MDD and AUD seeking treatment will receive 25 mg of psilocybin or placebo during one PAT session on week 2. Outcome measures will be measured in both groups throughout the study until the end of the study (week 26). Results from the proposed research will help determine the safety, tolerability and preliminary efficacy of psilocybin-assisted therapy in patients with MDD and AUD and whether this treatment could eventually be used in clinical settings for this population
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February 19, 2026 ​

MAPS Canada Research Room presents:

Psychedelic-Assisted Couples Therapy: Trauma-focus and beyond​

Thu, February 19th, 7pm EST / 4pm PST
Speaker Bio: Dr. Anne Wagner, C.Psych. (she/her), is a clinical psychologist, speaker, writer, and treatment development researcher living in Toronto, Canada. Anne is the founder of Remedy, a mental health innovation community, and Remedy Institute, Remedy’s home for research. She is the lead investigator of the pilot trial of Cognitive Processing Therapy (CPT) for PTSD + MDMA and the randomized trial of Cognitive Behavioral Conjoint Therapy for PTSD (CBCT) + MDMA, a couples therapy for PTSD. Anne is deeply committed to bridging the worlds of psychotherapy and non-ordinary states of consciousness, and has a passion for its use for relational healing.
 
Talk Abstract: This presentation will provide a window into Remedy Institute’s couples therapy for PTSD study. Learn about the models of therapy being used, and the difference between a trauma-focused intervention versus an open focus couples framework in preparation and integration sessions.
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January 29, 2026

MAPS Canada Research Room presents:

AtaiBeckley portfolio update: taking DMT and MDMA derivatives through the FDA pathway

Thurs, January 29th 7pm EST / 4pm PST

Speaker Bio: Hailey is a Master’s level biostatistician with over 16 years of experience in clinical research oversight. She has contributed to the lifecycle of more than 60 clinical trials, and is a co/author on 30+ publications and talks spanning several therapeutic areas. The nexus of health, justice, and impact is the ethos for the work she chooses. After spending 11 years managing NIH-funded HIV clinical trials in the U.S., South America, and Africa, including multiple regulatory approvals of drugs and devices, Hailey came to psychedelics. Since 2020 Hailey has worked at the intersection of Clin Ops and Med Affairs for MAPS PBC/Lykos Therapeutics, as a private consultant, and for AtaiBeckley, managing programs in the US, Canada, South America, Europe, and Australia. She was an SSDP Pipeline Mentor for 3 years, and her work has been featured on Psychedelic Alpha and The Trip Report podcast. Talk Abstract – AtaiBeckley is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative mental health treatments, primarily utilizing psychedelic compounds. Our pipeline targets conditions with significant unmet needs like treatment-resistant depression (TRD), social anxiety disorder (SAD), and alcohol use disorder (AUD).Key candidates include BPL-003 (intranasal 5-MeO-DMT), which has shown rapid and durable antidepressant effects in Phase 2a-b studies for TRD. VLS-01 (buccal film DMT) is in Phase 2 for TRD, targeting a short in-clinic treatment time and EMP-01 (oral R-MDMA) has completed a Phase 2 study for SAD.

Talk Abstract: AtaiBeckley is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing innovative mental health treatments, primarily utilizing psychedelic compounds. Our pipeline targets conditions with significant unmet needs like treatment-resistant depression (TRD), social anxiety disorder (SAD), and alcohol use disorder (AUD).Key candidates include BPL-003 (intranasal 5-MeO-DMT), which has shown rapid and durable antidepressant effects in Phase 2a-b studies for TRD. VLS-01 (buccal film DMT) is in Phase 2 for TRD, targeting a short in-clinic treatment time and EMP-01 (oral R-MDMA) has completed a Phase 2 study for SAD.

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2025 PAST SESSIONS

2024 PAST SESSIONS

2023 PAST SESSIONS

WATCH PAST EPISODES

Research Room Team 

Aakanksha Sahu

Team Lead

Sarah Stevenson

Team Member