Spring 2022 Semi-Annual Updates

Terence Ching’s case study was published in the Journal of Humanistic Psychology. His second paper is under review at the Journal of Psychopharmacology. Terence was invited to present at Psychedelic Science 2023 in Denver, CO and plans to attend.

Grant Jones’ project is currently in the revise and resubmit stage at Scientific Reports and will hopefully be in press in the coming weeks.

Publications:

Jones G, Nock MK. (2022). Race and ethnicity moderate the associations between MDMA/ecstasy and psilocybin use and depression. Poster accepted at the ​​Society of Behavioral Medicine Annual Meeting.

Jones G. (2021). Race, psychedelics, and suicide. Talk delivered at the Ford Fellows' Conference, Online.

Jones G. (2021). Race and ethnicity moderate the associations between MDMA/ecstasy and psilocybin use and psychological distress and suicidality. Talk delivered at the Society for Research in Psychopathology, Online.

Jones G, Nock MK. (2021). Race and ethnicity moderate the associations between MDMA/ecstasy and psilocybin use and psychological distress and suicidality. Poster presented at the Society for Research in Psychopathology, Online.

Jones G, Nock MK. (2021). Race and ethnicity moderate the associations between MDMA/ecstasy and psilocybin use and psychological distress and suicidality. Poster presented at the Association of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, Online.

Thomas Varley’s Data collection is on-going. COVID-19-related supply chain issues have hindered his ability to reliably get the lab equipment needed. So far, Thomas has 20 3-hour recordings done and is beginning preliminary data analysis. 

Jacob Green plans to make a return visit to the James McKeen Cattell archive in Washington, DC and has completed the data collection portion of his project and has moved on to the write up phase. So far, he has written one chapter and has begun writing a second one. He plans to complete his project by June 2023.

Publications:

Green Jacob. "Mysticism, Mind-altering Drugs and Psychology: 1870-1919." Presentation at the Society for the Social Studies of Science (4S) annual meeting, Toronto, Canada and virtual, 2021.

Green Jacob. "The Role of the Pleasures of Nitrous Oxide and Ether Frolics in the Discovery of Anesthesia." Presentation at the Science History Institute's Fellows Talks Series, Philadelphia, PA, 2021.

Green Jacob. "William James' Network and Mind-altering Drug Research." Flashtalk Presentation at the History of Science Society's Annual Meeting, Virtual, 2021.

Aaron Cherniak has submitted and presented on the theoretical background of his work. He has obtained IRB approval for his study and data collection is ongoing. As part of promoting his work, he has had opportunities to engage in advocacy work. Aaron was invited to testify to the Special Committee in the Israeli Parliament for Issues Related to Addictions, Drugs, and Challenges Facing Israel's Youth. Hearing on Hallucinogenic Mushrooms in Research and Therapy (2022, January). Aaron has had a poster accepted to present at the From Research to Reality Global Summit on Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies and Medicine in Toronto in May 2022. He has also submitted other abstracts to: the International Attachment Conference, the International Association for the Cognitive and Evolutionary Sciences of Religion and the Interdisciplinary Conference on Psychedelic Research. Aaron also delivered an invited lecture to the Jewish Community of Stockholm, Sweden: “What psychedelics and peak experiences teach us about everyday meaning and well-being.” He also presented an invited lecture in a webinar to the Swedish Network for Psychedelic Science (Nätverket för Psykedelisk Vetenskap, NPV) on the topic of my pre-print: “The REBUS model and you: Attachment-informed model for psychedelic research and therapy.”

Publications:
Cherniak, A. D., & Granqvist, P. (2021). Psychedelic Experience – Religious Attachment Interview (P-RAI). [Unpublished manuscript]. Department of Psychology, Stockholm University. https://osf.io/72g64/

Cherniak, A. D.,* Gruneau-Brulin, J.,* Mikulincer, M., Östlind, S., Carhart-Harris, R., & Granqvist, P. (Submitted). Psychedelic science of spirituality and religion: An attachment-informed agenda proposal. https://psyarxiv.com/x58m9/

Special Committee in the Israeli Parliament for Issues Related to Addictions, Drugs, and Challenges Facing Israel's Youth. Hearing on Hallucinogenic Mushrooms in Research and Therapy (2022, January), Invited Speaker, https://m.knesset.gov.il/Activity/Committees/Drugs/Pages/CommitteeAgenda.aspx?tab=3&ItemID=2168475

Cherniak, A. D. (2022, February). Current and future research opportunities [Symposium chair]. Transforming Chaplaincy Psychedelic Care Network Meeting, virtual.

Cherniak, A. D., Bruneau-Grulin, J., Östlind, S., & Granqvist, P. (2022, February). The REBUS model and you: Attachment-informed model for psychedelic research and therapy. Invited virtual lecture to the Swedish Network for Psychedelic Science (Nätverket för Psykedelisk Vetenskap, NPV).

Cherniak, A. D. (2021, November). What psychedelics and peak experiences teach us about everyday meaning and well-being. Invited lecture to the Jewish Community of Stockholm, Sweden.

Cherniak, A. D., (2022, May). Clinical applications of attachment theory in psychedelic-assisted therapy for substance use disorder. Poster accepted to present at the From Research to Reality: Global Summit on Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies and Medicine. Toronto, Canada. 

Ana Flecha passed her Qualifying Exam in November, 2021, and is now a PhD candidate. Her dissertation committee includes two professors from UC Santa Cruz where she is based, one from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, and one from the Federal University of Belém in Brazil. Ana’s IRB protocol is currently under review and she plans to begin data collection this in Spring of 2022. Her trip to the Amazon in September, funded by my SRF grant, will be an important site for her field research. She is on track to complete her dissertation and plans to defend by the end of 2023. She is working on revisions for a manuscript titled "Currents of resistance: Choreographing values of the forest through the Santo Daime bailado" which was reviewed for publication in the Brazilian Journal on Presence Studies based out of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil.

 William Kromka’s project was submitted to the Mass General Brigham IRB approximately one month ago and is pending approval. The project is still on target for completion in the Spring of 2023. 

Maha Mian’s IRB is approved and her study is uploaded into Mturk. She is currently undergoing the reimbursement/funding process to start recruitment on Mturk for study 1. She anticipates the data collection will start early March and conclude mid-April, with analyses and write-up taking place in Summer of 2022.

Amanda Kim’s project data has been collected and analyzed and the project is largely completed. A poster presentation was presented at the AAAP conference in December 2021. She is in the process of writing the manuscript. Amanda has also been granted a 2022 Usona Institute Scholarship through the Usona Institute Scholarship Program.

Publications:

Kim A, Suzuki J. Addiction Specialists' Attitudes Toward Psychedelics: a National Survey. Poster accepted and to be presented at: 32nd Annual Meeting and Scientific Symposium of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry; 2021 Dec 9-12; http://aaap.societyconverence.com/v2/

Dave Rojas has successfully defended his dissertation proposal defense in October 2021. During November 2021, he met with the clinical directors at Sage Integrative Health and Sage Institute to make sure that his research procedures were consistent with their clinical and safety procedures. He submitted his initial IRB protocol to the Alliant IRB Board in December 2021. Currently, he is completing suggested revisions made by the Alliant IRB board in January 2022. After he submits revisions to the Alliant IRB board, and they are accepted, he anticipates beginning data collection in either March or April 2022. His study will now be conducted virtually (via Zoom) and will have a rolling enrollment allowing me more flexibility to ensure that he meets the target participant size.

Rebecca Rotherberg has still not been able to travel for conferences to present her research due to COVID-19 restrictions, but she hopes this will change in the coming months.

Brandon Weiss has completed his project and published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology. Brandon plans to use SRF Funds to attend and present at the Research to Reality conference in May 2022.

Publications:

Agin-Liebes, G., Zeifman, R., Luoma, J., Garland, E. L., Campbell, W. K., & Weiss, B. (2022). Prospective Examination of the Therapeutic Role of Psychological Flexibility and Cognitive Reappraisal in the Ceremonial Use of Ayahuasca. Journal of Psychopharmacology.

Gabrielle Agin-Liebes has completed her project in 2020 but has not yet used her funds due to a Covid-related cancellation of a conference at which she intended to present. She plans to submit a proposal for request to re-allocate her funds for a different purpose.