Paul S. Appelbaum, MD is the Elizabeth K. Dollard Professor of Psychiatry, Medicine, & Law, and Director, Center for Law, Ethics & Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University, and a Research Psychiatrist at the NY State Psychiatric Institute. He is the author of many articles and books on law and ethics in clinical practice and research, with his recent research focusing on the ethical, legal, and social implications of advances in neuropsychiatric genetics and neuroscience. Dr. Appelbaum is a Past President of the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law. He has twice served as Chair of the APA Council on Psychiatry and Law and of the APA Committee on Judicial Action and now chairs the APA’s DSM Steering Committee. Dr. Appelbaum received the APA’s Isaac Ray Award for "outstanding contributions to forensic psychiatry and the psychiatric aspects of jurisprudence" and the APA’s Adolf Meyer Award for career contributions to psychiatric research and was elected to the National Academy of Medicine. Dr. Appelbaum is a graduate of Columbia College, received his M.D. from Harvard Medical School, and completed his residency in psychiatry at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center/Harvard Medical School in Boston.

United States Public Health Service (USPHS), Captain (CAPT) Sean J. Belouin, began his uniformed service career in 1988 at the age of 18 when he enlisted in the United States Army. At 19, he graduated from the Army’s Warrant Officer Flight Training Program as a Warrant Officer (W1) earning his Army aviator wings as a helicopter pilot. During his eight years of combined active Army duty and National Guard service, Chief Warrant Officer (CW2), Belouin had earned his commercial and instrument helicopter ratings, fixed wing private pilot rating, and had become qualified in three different military aircraft. While CW2 Belouin was serving in the Army National Guard, he advanced his education by pursuing a professional Bachelor of Science degree in Pharmacy from the University of Connecticut, graduating, and becoming a pharmacist in 1997. After serving as a civilian community pharmacist for two years, CW2 Belouin joined the ranks of the USPHS in 1999 as a Pharmacy Officer at the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade (LTJG), and he would go on to earn his clinical doctorate in pharmacy from Shenandoah University in 2006.

CAPT Belouin currently serves as a pharmacy officer in the USPHS in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health, HHS addressing a broad array of complex behavioral health policy issues. CAPT Belouin has held several programmatic, regulatory, or policy positions throughout his 25-year PHS career, split between the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Prior to CAPT Belouin’s PHS career, he served in several assignments as an Army aviator and warrant officer on active duty and then with the Massachusetts Army National Guard.

Most recently in 2023, CAPT Belouin accepted a detail to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH), as Senior Advisor on Behavioral Health. Crucially, this involved spearheading the emerging therapeutic healing modalities (ETHM) initiative that encompasses identifying, developing, and implementing innovative programmatic policies, whose interventions from this initiative target the unmet medical needs for serious behavioral health disorders where current evidence-based prevention and treatment programs have been ineffective.     

Marcus Capone, along with his wife Amber, are the founders of the U.S.-based nonprofit organization, Veterans Exploring Treatment Solutions (VETS), a pioneering 501(c)(3) organization that provides resources, research, and advocacy for U.S. Special Operations veterans seeking psychedelic-assisted therapies. The Veteran Navy SEAL turned Entrepreneur continues to advance this mission with the additional founding of TARA Mind, a public benefit corporation to provide safe, effective, and affordable access to life-changing mental health therapies through coordinated care and structured real world evidence datasets. The Company has developed a first of its kind mental health collaborative care platform, recognized for being clinician-guided, data-driven, and evidence-based, to help the millions of individuals struggling with mental health disorders that have not been clinically responsive to traditional mental health therapies, all through employer funded health plans.
After spending 13 years on active duty, and numerous combat deployments as a Navy SEAL, Marcus’ post-military transition challenges became seemingly insurmountable. After many traditional approaches to mental healthcare were unsuccessful, Amber arranged for Marcus to leave the U.S. in 2017 to pursue psychedelic therapy, an intervention the couple attributes to saving his life, as well as their family.

He found the astounding success too incredible not to share with other veterans, which prompted the trailblazing launch of VETS. Since its inception, VETS has maintained a special emphasis on ibogaine (although the VETS mission also includes grant funding and advocacy for additional psychedelic compounds), and its remarkable potential for neuroregenerative effects in combating blast injury and mild traumatic brain injury, the “signature injury” of the post-9/11 conflicts overseas, though the VETS mission also includes grant funding and advocacy for additional psychedelic compounds. As a global leader in psychedelic science, VETS has raised funding to provide integration support and therapeutic access abroad to hundreds of veterans, spouses, and Gold Star spouses, while also spearheading research and policy change at the state and federal levels.

Marcus is a frequent guest speaker and advocate of psychedelic therapies for veterans and non-veterans alike, and he believes that psychedelic therapies are the future of mental healthcare. His ultimate goal is to make these therapies available through affordable access, within the borders of the United States for all who need them.

Prof. Cohen is one of the world’s leading experts on the intersection of bioethics (sometimes also called “medical ethics”) and the law, as well as health law. He has advised the U.S. Vice President on reproductive rights, discussed medical AI policy with members of the Korean Congress, and lectured to legal, medical, and industry conferences around the world.

He is the author, co-author, editor, or co-editor of more than 20 books and 200 articles and chapters and his award-winning work has appeared in leading legal (including the Stanford and Harvard Law Reviews), medical (including the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA), bioethics (including the American Journal of Bioethics, the Hastings Center Report), scientific (Science, Cell) and public health (the American Journal of Public Health) journals, as well as Op-Eds in venues such as the New York Times, Washington Post, and New Republic.

His work spans many topics including medical AI, mobile health, abortion, reproduction/reproductive technology, the therapeutic use of psychedelic drugs, research ethics, organ transplantation, rationing, health policy, FDA law, and medical tourism.

He is the faculty director of the Petrie- Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology & Bioethics. He is the principal investigator on several research projects including the Project on Psychedelics Law and Regulation (POPLAR) and the Gracias Family Psychedelics Research Initiative and Bootcamp in Ethics Regulation Fund at Harvard Law School.

Rick Doblin, PhD, is the founder and president of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). He received his doctorate in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, where he wrote his thesis on a survey of oncologists about smoked marijuana vs. the oral THC pill in nausea control for cancer patients and his dissertation on the regulation of the medical uses of psychedelics and marijuana. His undergraduate thesis at New College of Florida was a 25-year follow-up to the classic Good Friday Experiment, which evaluated the potential of psychedelic drugs to catalyze religious experiences. He also conducted a thirty-four year follow-up study to Timothy Leary’s Concord Prison Experiment. Rick studied with Dr. Stanislav Grof and was among the first to be certified as a Holotropic Breathwork practitioner. His professional goal is to help develop legal contexts for the beneficial uses of psychedelics and marijuana, primarily as prescription medicines but also for personal growth for otherwise healthy people, and eventually to become a legally licensed psychedelic therapist. He founded MAPS in 1986 and currently resides in Boston with his wife and dog, with three empty rooms from his children who have all graduated college and begun their life journeys. Learn more about Rick by listening to his Origin Story and watching his TED Talk.

Dr. Tiffany Farchione received her medical degree from Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan, and completed adult residency and child and adolescent fellowship training at the University of Pittsburgh's Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic. Dr. Farchione is board certified in both general and child and adolescent psychiatry. Prior to joining the FDA in 2010, Dr. Farchione was affiliated with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center and was on the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh. As the Director of the Division of Psychiatry at the FDA, Dr. Farchione is involved in the oversight of new drug review for all psychiatric drug development activities conducted under investigational new drug applications and the review of all new drug applications and supplements for new psychiatric drug claims. This includes the development of guidance for investigations concerning the use of psychedelic drugs for treatment of various medical conditions, including psychiatric and substance use disorders.

Dr. Gilligan has a deep history of drug development with a background in pharmacology and a focus on the development of peptide-based therapeutics, rDNA product development, and more recently psychoactive molecules. His areas of clinical research include: musculoskeletal diseases, cardiovascular disease, endocrine and metabolic diseases, and psychedelic assisted psychotherapy.

Jim has co-founded and helped lead several biopharma and bio-tech companies, including Tarsa Therapeutics, Herborium Inc., and Unigene Labs, where he oversaw the entire spectrum of drug development activities, including pharmacology and preclinical activities, CMC, clinical Phase I-III, as well as US and international regulatory strategies. Jim also has an MBA in international business and has executed numerous feasibility and licensing deals within the pharmaceutical industry, working frequently with investment bankers, venture capitalists, and brokers.

He is currently President and CSO at Tryp Therapeutics developing an IV infusion of psilocin, the active metabolite of psilocybin, to support psychedelic assisted therapy to address unmet medical needs. Currently Tryp has three ongoing clinical studies in the US exploring the clinical utility of psychedelic assisted therapy in patients with binge eating disorder, fibromyalgia, and IBS. He serves as a consultant to the DOD for their ongoing PTSD clinical studies.

Lewis A. Grossman is the Ann Loeb Bronfman Professor of Law at American University. He has also been a Law and Public Affairs Fellow at Princeton University and a Visiting Professor at Cornell Law School. He teaches and writes in the areas of food and drug law, health law, American legal history, and civil procedure. Before entering academia, Professor Grossman was an associate at Covington & Burling LLP, where he currently serves as part-time Of Counsel. He also clerked for Chief Judge Abner Mikva of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. He is the author of Choose Your Medicine: Freedom of Therapeutic Choice in America (Oxford University Press 2021) and co-author of Food and Drug Law: Cases and Materials, the leading text in the field. His scholarship has appeared in numerous academic journals, including Science; New England Journal of Medicine; American Journal of Law & Medicine; Cornell Law Review; Yale Journal of Health Policy, Law & Ethics; Administrative Law Review; and Law & History Review, among others.

He has served on five committees of the Health and Medicine Division of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Professor Grossman earned his PhD in History from Yale University, where he attended on a Mellon Fellowship in the Humanities and where he was awarded the George Washington Egleston Prize for Best Dissertation in the Field of American History. He received a JD magna cum laude from Harvard Law School and a BA summa cum laude from Yale University.

In addition to an active neuroanesthesia practice, Dr. Boris Heifets directs both clinical and basic neuroscience research programs, bridging neuroscience, psychiatry, and anesthesiology. His research is focused on deconstructing the neural mechanisms involved in an emerging class of rapid-acting psychiatric therapies, like ketamine, MDMA and psilocybin. His lab investigates these compounds’ neuroplastic potential and is working to develop therapeutics that are precise, safe, and scalable. Dr. Heifets has a had a lifelong interest in neuroscience, non-ordinary states of consciousness, and neuroplasticity. He is an associate professor in the Department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative & Pain Medicine, and, by courtesy, in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences at the Stanford School of Medicine. He received his undergraduate degree in neuroscience from Yale University, MD/PhD degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and completed anesthesiology residency and a neuroanesthesiology fellowship at Stanford Hospital.

Dr. Mathew W. Johnson is an experimental psychologist who conducts clinical research with psychedelics at Sheppard Pratt. From 2004 to 2024 he conducted seminal psychedelic research at Johns Hopkins, playing a role in the modern-day revival of psychedelic research. He has published research on psychedelics in relation to mystical experience, personality change, tobacco smoking cessation, cancer distress treatment, depression treatment, and psychedelic risks and safety guidelines. In 2021, he received as principal investigator the first grant in almost 50 years from the US government to administer a classic psychedelic, specifically psilocybin, as a treatment for tobacco addiction. He is also known for his expertise in behavioral economics, addiction, sexual risk behavior, and research with a wide variety of drug classes. He has been Interviewed by Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, CNN, NPR, Fox News, BBC, the Lex Fridman Podcast, the Huberman Lab Podcast, Big Think, and Michael Pollan.

Beau Kilmer (he/him) is codirector of the RAND Drug Policy Research Center, a senior policy researcher at RAND, and a professor of policy analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School. His research lies at the intersection of public health and public safety, with special emphasis on substance use, illegal markets, crime control, and public policy. Some of his current projects include assessing the consequences of cannabis legalization (with a special focus on social equity); measuring the effect of 24/7 Sobriety programs on impaired driving, domestic violence, and mortality; analyzing changes in illegal fentanyl markets; and considering the implications of legalizing psychedelics. Kilmer's publications have appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, and Science. His commentaries have been published by CNN, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, USA Today, Wall Street Journal, among others. Two editions of his coauthored book on cannabis legalization were published by Oxford University Press, and his coauthored book on the future of fentanyl and other synthetic opioids was published by RAND. Kilmer is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine Committee on Public Health Consequences of Changes in the Cannabis Policy Landscape. In 2023, he was elected as vice president of the International Society for the Study of Drug Policy. He received his PhD in public policy from Harvard University, MPP from UC-Berkeley, and BA in international relations from Michigan State University.

Jon was the first study participant to complete a randomized controlled trial studying psilocybin-assisted therapy (PAT) for alcohol use disorder at New York University. Jon credits PAT with curing his treatment-resistant alcoholism and saving his life. His mission is to make this same treatment available to those in need. Jon launched the Apollo Pact, a patient advocacy organization raising awareness and advancing psychedelic science by working with researchers and Congress.

Jon was interviewed by Anderson Cooper for 60 Minutes, Harry Smith for NBC’s TODAY Show, Nightly News with Lester Holt, Sunday TODAY with Willie Geist, and Michael Pollan for How to Change Your Mind. He has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Fox, CBS, NBC, CNN, TIME Magazine, New York Post, Washington Post, U.S. News & World Report, among other national outlets.

Amy McGuire, JD, PhD, is the Leon Jaworski Professor of Biomedical Ethics and Director of the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine (BCM). She researches ethical and policy issues related to emerging technologies and innovative therapeutics, with a particular focus on genetics and genomics, neuropsychology, and the clinical integration of novel neurological devices. Dr. McGuire is the founding director of the Ethical Legal Implications of Psychedelics in Society (ELIPSIS) program, which conducts research to inform responsible policy translation for psychedelic medicines. She has received numerous teaching awards at BCM, was recognized by the Texas Executive Women as a Woman on the Move in 2016, and has been invited to give a TEDMED talk titled “There is no Genome for the Human Spirit” in 2014 and a TEDx talk titled “Can Creating Moments of Meaning Improve Mental Health?” in 2022. Dr. McGuire has served as a member of the National Advisory Council for Human Genome Research and as an advisor to the X Prize in Genomics. Currently, Dr. McGuire is on the board of the Greenwall Foundation, is a Hasting’s Center Fellow, and is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for Geisinger Research, The Morgridge Institute for Research, and Nurture Genomics.

Graham Pechenik is a registered patent attorney and the founder of Calyx Law, a law firm specializing in cannabis and psychedelics related intellectual property, especially as it relates to drug discovery and development.
Graham has a BS from UC San Diego, where he chose his Cognitive Neuroscience and Biochemistry majors after his first psychedelic experiences inspired deep curiosity about the bases for changes in consciousness, and a JD from New York University, where he initially pursued interests in bioethics and cognitive liberty.

After a decade at large law firms defending and challenging patents for Fortune 500 companies across the agricultural, chemical, pharmaceutical, biotech, and technology industries, including working on several landmark patent cases both at trial and on appeal, Graham started Calyx Law in 2016 to help cannabis and psychedelics ventures design and implement their IP strategies.

Graham is also editor-at-large of Psychedelic Alpha, where he writes about psychedelics IP, provides data for patent trackers, and maintains a psychedelics legalization and decriminalization tracker, he is the founding steward of the IP Committee of the Psychedelic Bar Association, where he is also on the Board of Directors, he is a member of Chacruna’s Council for the Protection of Sacred Plants, and he is an advisor to numerous organizations and venture funds.

Dominic Sisti, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Medical Ethics & Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. He directs the Scattergood Program for the Applied Ethics of Behavioral Health Care and holds secondary appointments in the Department of Psychiatry, where he directs the ethics curriculum in the residency program, and the Department of Philosophy. Dr. Sisti was recently elected a fellow of the Hastings Center.

Sisti's research examines ethical and policy challenges in mental health care, including long-term psychiatric care for individuals with serious mental illness, and clinical ethics issues in correctional settings. Sisti's research also explores ethical issues in psychedelic research and clinical application. His writings have appeared in medical and bioethics journals such as JAMA, JAMA Psychiatry, Psychiatric Services, the Hastings Center Report, and the Journal of Medical Ethics. His scholarship has also been featured in media outlets such as the New York Times, The Economist, NPR, the Philadelphia Inquirer, Slate, and The Atlantic. He is co-editor of three books including Applied Ethics in Mental Healthcare: An Interdisciplinary Reader (2013, MIT Press).

Dr. Sisti's research has been funded by the Thomas Scattergood Behavioral Health Foundation, the Greenwall Foundation, The Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice, the Leonard Davis Institute, and the Dana Foundation. He teaches graduate courses on clinical ethics, ethics in behavioral healthcare, and social media, ehealth, and biomedical ethics.

Dr. Sisti received his bachelor's degree in biology from Villanova University, a master of bioethics from the University of Pennsylvania, and his doctorate in philosophy from Michigan State University. Sisti was an Edmund Pellegrino Fellow at the Center for Clinical Bioethics at Georgetown University.

Dr. States serves as the Deputy Director of the Office of Science and Medicine and Chief Medical Officer to the Assistant Secretary for Health, in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health (OASH) at the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In these roles, he leads a diverse portfolio addressing critical and emerging areas of public health interest for OASH and the Immediate Office of the HHS Secretary, including behavioral health, mental health, substance disorder, and emerging public health threats. He has been a leader within HHS around efforts to reconsider scheduling considerations regarding cannabis and has worked closely across HHS Divisions to address potential therapeutic roles for psychedelics and entactogens.

Before HHS, he spent nine years on active duty as a Navy Medical Officer serving in roles including Battalion Surgeon of a Marine infantry battalion, Public Health Emergency Officer for Navy Medicine West, and Officer in Charge of a Forward Deployable Preventive Medicine Unit. A native of Long Beach, California, States received his MD from the UCSD School of Medicine, completed residency training and an MPH at Loma Linda University, and earned an MBA from the George Washington University. He is board certified in preventive medicine and a Fellow of the American College of Preventive Medicine. His personal awards include the ACPM Distinguished Federal Preventive Medicine Medical Officer Award, Meritorious Service Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, and Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal.

Monnica Williams, PhD is a board-certified, licensed clinical psychologist, specializing in cognitive-behavioral therapies. She is a full tenured Professor in the School of Psychology at the University of Ottawa, Canada Research Chair in Mental Health Disparities, and Director of the Laboratory for Culture and Mental Health Disparities. She is the Clinical Director of the Behavioral Wellness Clinic in Connecticut and the Behavioural Wellness Clinic in Ottawa. She has also founded outpatient clinics in Kentucky, Virginia, and Pennsylvania, including a mental health clinic for refugees.

Dr. Williams has conducted clinical research on psychological and pharmacological treatments of OCD, PTSD, and anxiety disorders. Her research interests also include the role of culture and race on mental illness. She is an authority on obsessive-compulsive disorder, including sexual orientation-themed OCD (called SO-OCD or HOCD), racial trauma, and she is one of very few researchers focused on the inclusion of people of color in psychedelic medicine. She has published over 150 peer-reviewed articles, as well as many book chapters and scientific reports, with a focus on anxiety-related conditions and cultural differences, including articles about therapeutic best practices. These have appeared in scientific journals including Journal of Anxiety Disorders, Behavior Research and Therapy, Clinical Case Studies, Depression and Anxiety, and JAMA Psychiatry. She is currently an associate editor for Behavior Therapy, and she is on the editorial board of the Journal of Obsessive-Compulsive and Related Disorders, Journal of Psychedelic Studies, International Journal of Mental Health, Canadian Psychology, and Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. Her work has been funded by local and federal competitive grants, including the National Institutes of Health, Open Society Foundations, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, and the American Psychological Foundation. She was named one of the top 25 thought leaders in PTSD by PTSD Journal and one of the 16 most influential women shaping the future of psychedelics by Business Insider.