Research

We lead a world-class psychedelic research programme that spans the field.

Our interdisciplinary team have a shared goal: to weave together findings across projects, yielding insights that could not emerge in isolation.

Key Psychedelic research areas

Mind and Metaphysics : Studying the impact of psychedelics on conscious experience, and our beliefs about consciousness and perception; in turn informing theories of philosophy of mind and metaphysics.

Therapeutic Applications: Exploring the potential of psychedelics in healing both mental and physical health conditions in clinical trials and pioneering group-based treatment models; the use of psychedelics for flourishing and creative problem solving.

Communities of Practice: Exploring the diverse communal applications of psychedelics, including retreats, rituals, ceremonies, and other collective contexts; Incorporating a communities of practice framework within experimental design, examining psychedelics as a potential social cure.

Culture and Context: Unfolding the role of psychedelics in different cultural and historical contexts, including traditional and Indigenous uses; initiatives to work with Indigenous leaders to drive new cross-culturally informed research programmes.

Mechanism of Action: Investigating the mechanisms by which psychedelics interact with the brain, body and nervous system to produce shifts in subjective experience and changes in consciousness; exploring the mechanism of psychedelic action at the psychological, as well as social and relational level.

Agents of Change: Determining the capacity of psychedelics to produce changes in consciousness; how psychedelics may evoke shifts in political, social and ecological behaviour and systems – both positive and negative.

Examples of currently funded research projects

Group of people looking away from camera with hands around shoulders

PsiCoP

A community of practice approach exploring group administration of psilocybin outside of a clinical setting based on Gathering Groups and Roots to Thrive models

Lead: Leor Roseman, Celia Morgan, and Max Crosland-Wood
Funding: Nostromo Foundation

Beckley LSD study

A pioneering neuroimaging study using high resolution 7T imaging to explore the underpinnings of the subjective effects of LSD and mystical experiences.

Lead: Anjali Bhat
Funding: The Beckley Foundation

MORE-KARE

A Phase 3 clinical trial of ketamine-assisted therapy for alcohol problems within our public health care system in the UK

Lead: Celia Morgan
Funding: NIHR

Ayahuasca use in ceremonial context by military veterans

This mixed-methods observational study into the effects of legal ayahuasca retreats on military veterans, examines the impact of Ayahuasca on long-term psychological functioning using EEG, cognitive tests, microbiome/metabolomic assessments, and epigenetic analysis.

Lead: Simon Ruffell
Funding: Onaya Science

Ayahuasca in ceremonial contexts and recovery in brain injury

Ayahuasca in ceremonial contexts and recovery in brain injury: an observational study of naturalistic interventions exploring potential research pathways involving former elite-level athletes, biological markers, and a battery of psychometrics tailored to investigate traumatic brain injury, alongside trauma.

Lead: Simon Ruffell
Funding: Onaya Science

KOSMOS

This study using pharmacological manipulation of the opioid and glutamatergic system, EEG and psychological and behavioural analysis to explore the underpinnings of the therapeutic and rewarding properties of ketamine (Lead Celia Morgan, funding Libero Pharma)

Lead: Celia Morgan, Joy Krecké and Sam Hughes
Funding: Libero Pharma

Mind At Large Project

Exploring the possibility of consciousness outside of the brain – in machines, nature, the cosmos, etc. – and the phenomenology associated therewith (in psychedelic states, breathwork, etc.).

Lead: Peter Sjostedt-Hughes
Funding: California Institute for Integral Studies