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
- First Thursday of 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.
UPCOMING SESSIONS
MAPS Canada Research Room presents:
Investigating other psychedelics for mental health: AtaiBeckley pipeline update and development progress of BPL-003, VLS-01 and EMP-01 programs
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.
2025 PAST SESSIONS
MAPS Canada Research Room presents:
Psychedelic Integration and Community: the essential role that the 'we' plays in psychedelic healing and spirituality
Speaker Bio: Amy Bartlett is a curiosity enthusiast currently working on her PhD at the University of Ottawa, Canada. Her research explores the role that community plays in psychedelic integration and its impact on spirituality and healing, and her passions include community building, diversity and inclusion in the psychedelic space, harm reduction, and building pathways for safe, accessible and well-supported experiences with psychedelic substances and non-ordinary states of consciousness. She helps coordinate the Ottawa Psychedelic Education Network (OPEN), Ottawa’s local psychedelic society, as well as hosting the “My Psychedelic Roots’ podcast, and has facilitated over 150 free community integration circles. She has a law degree as well as her masters of law, and before returning to school for her PhD, worked for almost 20 years in human rights and social justice causes in Canada and around the world.
Talk Abstract: “For some, the study of psychedelic integration is still considered to be in its infancy, not just within the broader canon of academic literature, but even within the field of psychedelic studies itself. That said, while there has been a recent explosion of interest and discussion around the topic of psychedelic substances, the practice of integrating those psychedelic experiences has been helping to ground the conversation around these non-ordinary states of consciousness, slowly emerging as a core practice in modern academic discourse on both the spiritual and therapeutic use of psychedelics. Consequently, as the value and impact of psychedelic integration has slowly become more accepted in academic and cultural conversation, our understanding of what it means to ‘integrate’ psychedelic experiences has evolved, and is being broadened to include a wide array of practices and approaches which reflect different cultural traditions, psychological approaches, physical activities, social organizing as well as connecting to traditional and Indigenous wisdom on the use of sacred plant medicines. In terms of the practice itself, by pursuing opportunities to explore, interpret and individually or collectively make meaning of non-ordinary states of consciousness, the practice of integration serves both as a form of harm reduction to minimize post-journey risks associated with psychedelic experiencing, while also crucially providing opportunities to harvest insights and lessons from their psychedelic experience.
This process of grounding and embodying psychedelic insights can translate into psychological healing, spiritual connection and overall improved wellbeing, all of which can serve a person in their lives and their communities, as well as providing insight for the continued exploration of one’s mind, body and spirit. When it comes to WITH WHOM people are integrating their psychedelic experiences, the research is still in early stages, with much of the current research on psychedelics and healing in this revival era focusing on integration practices in a therapeutic container or framed by a clinical model of care. When it comes to understanding the opportunity that psychedelic holds for individual and collective reflection and understanding, there is much more research needed on the ways that most human beings have been using psychedelics and integrating their psychedelic experiences for millennia: namely, with their peers and in community. Whether within shamanistic traditions and religious communities, or by connecting with others in psychedelic societies and peer support structures, the academic literature is only just beginning to grapple with this under-explored feature of psychedelic integration. This presentation will dive into the foundations of the concept of integration, explore some of the understudied ways that psychedelic integration can be understood, and present new data on the lived experience of hundreds of psychedelic users who practice integration, and who have highlighted the important role of community in their integration practice.
MAPS Canada Research Room presents:
Variations in Psychedelic Interventions for Psychological Suffering at the End of Life: Insights from a Scoping Review
Sarah Kratina, RN, PhD, is a clinician and researcher specializing in mental health, psychedelic interventions and drug policy. She is currently pursuing her MN-NP at the University of Alberta, and completed her BScN at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario, and her PhD at the University of Toronto in the Institute of Health Policy Management and Evaluation. Her research interests focus on the therapeutic potential of psychedelic interventions in various populations, including those with addictions, and individuals experiencing end-of-life distress. Clinically, Sarah works in the field of mental health and addictions. Early-stage research on psychedelic interventions for psychological suffering associated with the end of life is highly diverse. Sociocultural factors shape both the methods, interventional approaches used, and the explanations applied to each substance. Ketamine was mainly linked to the biomedical model, unlike other substances. Outcome measures spanned biopsychosocial-spiritual domains. The therapeutic value of challenging experiences remains uncertain. Exploring treatment diversity is essential, but greater standardisation in reporting would enhance the rigor of future research.
Presentation abstract: Early-stage research on psychedelic interventions for psychological suffering associated with the end of life is highly diverse. Sociocultural factors shape both the methods, interventional approaches used, and the explanations applied to each substance. Ketamine was mainly linked to the biomedical model, unlike other substances. Outcome measures spanned biopsychosocial-spiritual domains. The therapeutic value of challenging experiences remains uncertain. Exploring treatment diversity is essential, but greater standardisation in reporting would enhance the rigor of future research.
MAPS Canada Research Room presents:
Psychedelic-assisted group therapy for first responders: A proposal
First responders, such as firefighters, often witness traumatic events including death or serious injury. These experiences can lead to depression and post-traumatic stress at rates several times higher than in the general population. A recent Canadian survey found that first responders both report high rates of illicit drug use and generally positive attitudes towards psychedelic-assisted therapy. Few psychedelic trials, however, have focused on this population. In this presentation, we will describe an upcoming trial recently approved by Health Canada. First responders will take part in a 12-week program based on the Gathering Groups protocol, which teaches mindfulness, self-compassion, and emotional processing. At week eight, participants will receive psilocybin at an overnight retreat centre and will undergo the experience in a group setting. At two-week and six-month follow-ups, we will measure the effects on depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress compared to a control group. The study will also assess the feasibility and safety of this group protocol. If successful, the results could support a scalable and cost-effective approach to reducing trauma among first responders. Recruitment is planned to begin in 2026.
Dr. Jay Olson is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Psychology at the University of Toronto. He studies a range of topics across psychology and medicine including psychedelics, placebos, creativity, and smartphone addiction. He did his previous graduate and postdoctoral training at McGill University and Harvard University.
MAPS Canada Research Room presents:
Pathways of Integration: Transmuting Psychedelic and Other Exceptional Experiences
This presentation shares findings from recent research into how experiencers process psychedelic and other exceptional experiences such as NDEs, kundalini and other spiritual awakenings, and UFO/alien encounters. We’ll look at different processing pathways, effective integration strategies, and questions for further research.
Speaker Bio: Joelle Adams studies the integration and transmutation of psychedelic and other exceptional experiences for improved wellbeing. She is currently completing her PhD in Applied Transpersonal Psychology at the Alef Trust and Liverpool John Moores University in the UK. Joelle completed her BA at Western University in London, Canada and her MA in Professional Practice in Higher Education at Bath Spa University in the UK. She also teaches critical thinking and academic composition at Santa Monica College. Joelle enjoys exploring altered states of consciousness, dancing, black coffee, and sharing life lessons with her teenaged nieces.
MAPS Canada Research Room presents:
Research abuses against people of colour and other vulnerable groups in early psychedelic research
Did you know that incarcerated Black men were experimented on for decades? From 1947 to 1974, the CIA used and exploited Black men in studies to test psychotropic drugs for mind control. These horrific, non-consensual studies took place at ARC (now rebranded as the National Institute on Drug Abuse, or NIDA), a facility that doubled as a prison and research center. For decades, the truth about these experiments has been buried.
Fifty years later, we’re asking: What were the real impacts and consequences for the victims, their families, and Lexington’s Black community?
We are working to uncover the full story through a community-based participatory approach to center the voices of those most impacted and bring justice to this hidden past. Join researchers Sheldomar Elliott, BA and Lianna Tullis-Robinson, MA, to talk about this project, racism in research, and the hidden history of a cold war project called MK-Ultra.
Lianna Tullis‑Robinson, MA, D‑TLLP, is a doctoral student in Counseling Psychology at Western Michigan University and a certified therapist in Psychedelic Therapies & Integration. Her work bridges Compassion‑Focused Cognitive Therapy and culturally responsive approaches within psychedelic research and clinical settings. She is the first doctoral student at WMU to embed psychedelics into her dissertation, focused on optimizing therapeutic protocols for BIPOC communities.
As a recognized speaker—having won international student competitions at Psychedelic Science and PsychedelX—Lianna advances equity in mental health through research, public education, and intentional integration strategies. Overall, her work champions ethical, inclusive psychedelic healing rooted in compassion, cultural awareness, and evidence-based practice.
Sheldomar Elliott is a dedicated food justice leader and racial equity advocate based in Toronto. Currently serving as the Food Rx Coordinator and Racial Equity Coordinator at FoodShare Toronto, he brings years of hands‑on experience tackling food insecurity and advancing food sovereignty for Black, Indigenous, and other marginalized communities.
Rooted in an anti‑oppressive, community‑centered approach, Sheldomar applies his expertise to program design, policy engagement, and public education—centered on ensuring BIPOC voices lead the conversation around equitable food systems
MAPS Canada Research Room presents:
Expanding Minds on Post-Secondary Campuses: How Students Who Use Drugs are Reducing their Risk of Harm
Around the world, youth and young adults engage in substance use for various reasons, including experimentation, socialization, performance enhancement, and to care for their wellbeing. This population includes post-secondary students; in the post-secondary environment, researchers have found that young adults are more likely to increase their substance use and their role in supplying substances. Post-secondary environments also house cutting-edge technology that can be used to identify ingredients in unregulated substances, preventing harm from unexpected contaminants and adulterants amidst the evolving drug supply. In this talk, Lauren will discuss the background and context of the student-run harm reduction team she co-founded and coordinated. She will share about engagement with the student community, including how students are using classroom knowledge to enhance their psychedelic journeys. Additionally, she will highlight what was shared by participants in an implementation science study of the harm reduction team’s on-campus drug checking service including how decision makers, service providers, and students navigated tensions in this political environment. Speaker Bio: Lauren is a registered nurse with a PhD in nursing from the University of British Columbia. For her PhD, she conducted an implementation science study of a multisector (university – community – health authority) student-run harm reduction drug checking service that she co-founded and coordinated. Presently she is conducting research to build robust harm reduction experiential education frameworks for post-secondary students. She is passionate about re-distributing resources from resource-rich institutions to address public health concerns.
MAPS Canada Research Room presents:
Music and non-music approaches in psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy: The sound of silence
Dr. Houman Farzin is a physician and researcher specializing in psychedelic medicine and palliative care. He serves as an attending physician in the Division of Palliative Care at the Jewish General Hospital and is a lecturer at McGill University. He is a trainer for Therapsil and was a former trial site physician for MAPPUSX, a multi-site open-label extension study of MDMA-assisted psychotherapy for PTSD. He is the founder of Mystic Health, a psychedelic venture currently operating in Southern California. Additionally, he is a DJ and music producer with various international appearances. Talk Abstract: In this talk, the speaker will explore the role of music and silence in Psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy (PAP). While music is commonly used to guide therapeutic experiences, its absence has been under-explored. The talk will highlight findings from a study with two breast cancer patients in Canada’s compassionate access program, and other experiences conducting PAP. One patient found the silence helpful for mindfulness, while the other used it to explore challenging memories triggered by the music. These results suggest that silent periods in PAP can enhance mindfulness and therapist-patient interactions.
MAPS Canada Research Room presents:
Indigenous Perspectives of Cannabis Use on Turtle Island
Jordy is a member of Okanagan Indian Band and a 1st year PhD student in the Clinical Psychology program at UBC Okanagan (UBCO). She started working with Dr. Zach Walsh in 2019 through the Indigenous Research Mentorship Program at UBCO. She competed her BSc in Psychology with a minor in Biology in 2021 and her MA in Clinical Psychology in 2024. Her Masters project focused on Indigenous perspectives of cannabis use. Her doctoral research is focused on the microdosing of psychedelics. More broadly, her research focuses on substance use, Indigenous research methods, drug checking, and harm reduction. She is a co-founder of the @UBCO.AISES group which aims to provide networking opportunities and foster community for Indigenous STEM students.
Talk Abstract
Since the legalization of adult recreational cannabis use in Canada, Indigenous leaders have made numerous calls on the provincial and federal governments for adequate and appropriate consultation regarding the Cannabis Act. These calls parallel the narrative surrounding research with Indigenous communities, which have historically enacted Western methods, often leading to non-collaborative approaches or exclusionary dynamics. This study brings together Indigenous researchers, substance use experts, and representatives from Indigenous communities and organizations to provide a platform for Indigenous perspectives on cannabis. Guided by Two-Eyed Seeing, in conjunction with Wilson’s (2008) circular research paradigm, this mixed-methods study explores what Indigenous Peoples think about cannabis use, what motivates them to use it, how it is used as a substitute for other substances, the modes and patterns of use, the access of cannabis, barriers to health care, and the impacts of legalization. Our findings show that the majority of respondents consider cannabis to be a medicine. Cannabis was used for an array of reasons both within and between respondents, with most reporting both cannabis for therapeutic purposes (CTP) and cannabis for recreational purposes (CRP). Cannabis was used as a substitute for a variety of substances including, alcohol, stimulants, opioids, cigarettes, and benzodiazepines. It was predominately disliked due to the associated stigma. Similarly, almost half of the respondents reported experiencing discrimination from their doctor because of cannabis use. Overall, we heard that cannabis use was perceived as an approach to enhance overall well-being and was not generally considered problematic.
MAPS Canada Research Room presents:
Psychedelics and Public Health: Results from the Global Psychedelic Survey 2023
Philippe Lucas, PhD is a cannabis and psychedelic researcher, and a lifelong safe access advocate. Following struggles as a medical cannabis patient, Philippe founded the Vancouver Island Compassion Society in 1999 and worked as its Executive Director until 2009. He then served a term as a Victoria City Councillor before being hired as VP, Global Patient Research & Access at Tilray, where he oversaw a comprehensive international clinical and observational cannabis research program. Currently, Philippe is Director, Research and Safe Access at the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS) and a Researcher Affiliate at the University of Michigan’s Psychedelic Center, and he is the lead investigator of the Canadian Psychedelic Survey 2022 and the Global Psychedelic Survey 2023/25.
Philippe has worked with governments around the globe to develop evidence-based drug policies and has received a number of accolades for his patient research and advocacy, including the Americans for Safe Access Researcher of the Year Award 2021, the Cannabis Council of Canada Lifetime Achievement Award, and the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
MAPS Canada Research Room presents:
Investigating the Effects of Psilocybin on Top-Down Visual Illusions (Part 2)
Sidath “Sid” Rankaduwa is a PhD Neuroscience candidate from the University of Western Ontario (UWO), whose research focuses on the effects of psilocybin on visual processing and cognition. Before entering his PhD, he completed an MA in Philosophy at UWO specializing in consciousness studies and philosophy of mind. Sid has a longtime interest in Eastern philosophical traditions, and has helped develop and teach a course on Buddhist philosophy at UWO. Sid has been interviewed on various podcasts for his research on psychedelics, and was also himself part of the original team for the MAPS Canada Podcast, acting as the show’s first host. The primary question that motivates Sid’s research is, “What can altered states tell us about the nature of consciousness?”
Talk Abstract
The psychedelic state is sometimes described as a “higher state of consciousness.” But what could this mean, experientially — are there tests where a psychedelic user could perform better than a sober individual? Our visual system constructs the objects and scenes in our environment from basic features such as shape, texture, and motion; much of what we see, however, is also influenced by our prior expectations — this is called ‘top-down’ processing. Researchers have found that psilocybin (a classic psychedelic) alters perception by disrupting top-down processes, thereby reducing the influence of our brain’s expectations on perception. We can test this by observing how psilocybin affects well-understood cases of top-down vision. Many visual illusions, for example, are driven by our prior knowledge leading us to misperceive certain images: we might see two equal lines as differing in length, or observe a hollow mask as being convex. However, if psilocybin disrupts top-down processes, then perhaps a psilocybin user wouldn’t make these same errors — they might instead be able to make more accurate judgements on certain visual illusions. They might see two lines as being equal, when in fact, they are. By investigating how psilocybin users experience different visual illusions, we can determine to what extent psilocybin affects top-down vision. If individuals tend to make more accurate judgements under the influence of psilocybin, then this may be a unique situation where the psychedelic state is truly a “higher state of consciousness.”
2024 PAST SESSIONS
2023 PAST SESSIONS
Research Room Team
Aakanksha Sahu
Team Lead
