Upcoming Events

“RECAP and POIESIS: A Tale of Two ‘Experiences’ in Psychedelic Therapy Trials”

Virtual presentation through the Psychedelic Science and Medicine Scientific Interest Group (PSIG) at the National Institutes of Health
Speaker: Cody J. Wenthur, PharmD, PhD
Date: Tues, June 18, 2024 (12 noon – 1pm EST)

Dr. Cody J. Wenthur is an innovative, translational investigator in psychopharmacology who has been on the UW-Madison faculty since 2018. His work is focused on improving our understanding of the basis for beneficial and detrimental effects of psychedelics, opioids, cannabinoids, and other neuroplasticitiy-inducing approaches in the context of novel therapeutic approaches for promoting and maintaining mental health. This includes study of the impact of both drug- and environmentally-based contributors to participant experiences with psychedelic-assisted therapy approaches, with a particular eye toward understanding approaches that may enhance equitable access in the event of approval for therapeutic use.

Plants for the Apocolypse

Fri, Apr 26, 2024
3:30 – 5:00 pm CST
Location: DC Smith Greenhouse (465 Babcock Dr, Madison, WI 53706)

Join us for a drop-in, self-guided tour as we celebrate Environmental History Week, Earth Fest, Bicycle Day, 420, interdependence, and health. Featured plants and fungi include: Poppy, Narcissus, Cordyceps, Cattail, Potato, Cannabis, Saffron, Ice Plant, Cicadapocalypse 2024…and more!

Whose Knowledge?: Cyberbotany & the Quest for Epistemic Justice in Psychedelic Research

Thurs, May 2, 2024
12:30 – 1:30 pm CST
Guest Lecturer: Joanna Kempner, PhD

The re-emergence of psychedelic research in universities often comes with robust historical narratives blaming politicians for the rise and fall in scientific interest in these substances. While public policies made it difficult to study psychedelics in an institutionalized setting, prohibition only drove experimentation underground.  This resulted in the emergence of, what Kempner coins, “cyberbotany.” This digital ethnobotanical study leverages online communities’ data to understand psychedelic use, circumventing legal and logistical research barriers. While cyberbotany recognizes diverse knowledge systems’ value, it’s crucial to prioritize epistemic justice in psychedelic studies, valuing knowledge from non-traditional settings for a more equitable and comprehensive understanding of psychedelics’ role in medicine and society.

International Forum on Consciousness: The Many Facets of Love

May 16 & 17, 2024
Presented by the Biopharmaceutical Technology Center
Location: Biopharmaceutical Technology Center, Promega Corporation Campus, Madison WI

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Psychedelics and Mental Health

May 30, 2024 (7:00 – 8:00 PM CST)
Verona Public Library
Speaker:  Dr. Cody Wenthur

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2024 Social Workers Confronting Racial Injustice Conference 
A 2-day Conference presented by the Sandra Rosenbaum School of Social Work

• Psychedelic Liberation
  Speaker: Charlotte Duerr James
  January 6, 2024
• Imagining Border, Prison, and Police Abolition for Health Justice
  Speaker: Ronica Mukerjee
  February 2, 2024

Global Health Institute Tuesday Webinar:
Psilocybin & Improving Mental Health
January 30, 2024  |  9:00 – 10:00 AM

Featured speakers include:

Alberto Vargas
Associate Director
Latin American, Carribean and Iberian Studies Program

Charles Raison, MD
Director, Clinical & Translational Research – Usona Institute
Professor, Human Ecology, SMPH at UW-Madison

Exploring the Intersection of Psychedelics & Mortality

November 5, 2023 @ 5:00 PM

Join us for a lively exploration of the intersection of mortality and psychedelics. Megan Miller will offer a short presentation to introduce some context related to Indigenous culture and practice, to share recent research with psilocybin-assisted therapy for people with cancer, and to highlight studies of DMT and near death experiences.  This will be followed by a lightly facilitated group conversation discussing mortality, death, grief, and the ways these intertwine with psychedelic experiences.  More about this event »

2023 Psychedelic Symposium

Pre-Symposium Workshop: “Psychedelic Collections & Codices”
Nov. 1, 2023

Presentations & Panels:

• Special Collections Viewing with Laura Martin
• Session I: “Documents & Interpretation”
  • Osiris Gonzales, PhD (University of Saskatchewan)
  • Melissa Frost, PhD (University of Virginia)
  • Diana Negrin da Silva, PhD (University of California, Berkley and Wixarika Research Center)
• Session II: “Collection Appraisal & Development”
  • Stephanie Schmitz, MLS (Purdue University)
  • Hannah Rose Swan, MSc, PGDip (School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin-Madison)
  • Amanda Rose Pratt, PhD (Kennesaw State University)

Symposium Presentations
Nov. 2-3, 2023

• Keynote session on “Decolonial Psychedelics” that engages critically with the social and cultural issues that have marginalized key voices in the renewed interest in psychedelics
• Keynote session on “Addressing the Psychedelic Experience” that examines the relevance (or irrelevance) of the psychedelic experience in scientific research and therapeutic applications of psychedelics
• Information and roundtables highlighting distinct models of care being applied to the use of psychedelics in therapeutic contexts
• Cutting-edge research and scholarly updates in the form of lectures and poster presentations on recently published or ongoing work in the area of psychedelic studies
• Social and networking opportunities that supplement the main academic program of the symposium, including catered meals, poster reception, other activities

Speakers:

• David Olson, PhD (UC Davis)
• Eduardo Schenberg, PhD (Instituto Phaneros)
• Stephanie Schmitz, MLS (Purdue University)
• Darron Smith, PhD, PA-C (University of Washington)
• Christopher Timmerman, PhD (Imperial College, London)

Webbed Attachments: Psychedelic Lessons from the Multiverse

Ramzi Fawaz, Romnes Professor of English, UW-Madison
October 30, 2023 @ 6:00 pm – 7:30 pm

This Focus on the Humanities talk explored how the fundamental qualities of the psychedelic experience—including heightened affective intensity, the dissolution of the ego, and a sense of cosmic interconnectedness with the world—offers a hopeful alternative to contemporary identitarianism…  Read more »

UW-Madison Speakers at PhilaDelic 2023
July 14 – 15, 2023

“Investigating the Mechanistic Relationship Between Glucocorticoid Release and Anxiolytic Effects of Psychedelics: Insights from Rodent Studies”
Cody Wenthur, PharmD, PhD

“From Peyote to Anhalonium: A Scandalously Short History of Mescaline Medicine in the Long Nineteenth Century”
Lucas Richert, PhD

UW Madison Speakers at PSYCHEDLIC SCIENCE 2023 – DENVER
June 19-23, 2023

“Psychedelic-assisted therapy introductory workshop”
Chantelle Thomas, PhD and Christopher Nicholas, PhD

“Latest developments in clinical studies for depression”
Charles L. Raison, MD

“Alexander Shulgin Research Institute: Chemistry for Consciousness”
Nicholas V Cozzi, PhD

“Islam and Psychedelics”
Hena Malik

“5-MeO-DMT as a mental health tool: Exploring possible mechanisms of action, the reactivation phenomenon, and some ethical considerations regarding the Sonoran Desert Toad”
Anny Ortiz

“Psychedelic Outcomes: Intersection of the Environment, Self-identify, and Success (The POIESIS Study)”
Cody J. Wenthur, PharmD, PhD

2023 Borghesi Mellon Workshop Series: Psychedelic Pasts, Presents, & Futures

Session Topics:

• Mycological Menagerie
• Beyond the Mystical: MEQ & Microphenomenology
• Plants for the Apocolypse
• Public Relations: Narcotic and Psychedelic Drug Knowledge Dissemination Materials
• 1619 Peyote Prohibition in Colonial New Spain

2022 UW Madison Psychedelic Symposium
Oct. 27-28, 2022

Session Topics:

• Psychedelic Rhetoric
• Psychedelic Research and Lessons to Learn from Contemplative Sciences
• Experiential Activity: Sacred Medicine
• Indigenous and Ancestral Wisdom: Reflections on How this Lens Intersects with Research Procedures, Study Design, Therapeutic Practices and Commercialization of Sacred Medicine/Psychedelics
• Urban Indigenous Collective and Psychedelic Cultural Humility
• Role of Psychedelic Societies in Outreach / Education
• Wholeness: A Mind-Body Approach
• Anesis and Intercultural Psychotherapy
• Postpartum Psychedelic Therapies and Intergenerational Trauma: MDMA for Addiction/PTSD and Ketamine for Depression
• Psychedelic Science – Greatest Hits of 2022 – Preclinical and Mechanistic
• Psychedelic Science – Greatest Hits of 2022 – Clinical and Implementation
• Ketamine Infusion in Psychiatric Treatment
• Esketamine at the VA +/- Prep and Integration

2022 Psychedelic Speaker Series

• Feb 2, 2022
  Drugs, Violence and Latin America: Global Psychotropy and Culture – (February 2, 2022)
  Speaker: Joe Patterson, Augustana Univ.
• March 10, 2022
  “A Specific Cure for Homosexuality”: Postwar Psychedelic Conversion Therapies in the United States and Canada
  Speaker: Andrea Ens, Purdue University
• March 31, 2022
  Standards without Labs: Psychedelic Drug Development in the Underground
  Speaker: Joanna Kempner, Rutgers University
• April 14, 2022
  Literary Theory on Acid
  Speaker: Ramzi Fawaz, UW-Madison
• April 28, 2022
  Right Wing Psychedelia
  Speakers: Nese Devenot, Univ of Cincinnati; Brian Pace, The Ohio State University
• May 3, 2022
  Indigenous Knowledges and Psychedelic Science
  Speaker: Evgenia Fotiou, Independent Scholar

2021 Psychedelic Symposium
November 4 – 5, 2021

Session topics:

• Psychedelic Wars: Past and Present
• Psychedelics in Latin America and the case of the Intercultural Clinic in Sonora, Mexico
• Neuropharmacology of Psychedelic Action
• Environmental Influences on Psilocybin Outcomes Across Species
• MDMA as an Adjunct to the Treatment of PTSD
• Psilocybin in the Treatment of Addictive Disorders
• Psychedelics in the Treatment of Depression
• The Phenomenology of Psychedelics