Psychedelic assisted therapy in Ireland
IDPAT Conference 2024
Date: Friday 25th October 2024
Venue: Trinity College Dublin
Organisers: Irish Doctors for Psychedelic Assisted Therapy
CPD: Approved for 7 External Credits by CPsychI
DRAFT Programme:
09:00: Registration & Tea/Coffee
09:30: Prof. John Kelly (IRE) – Introduction to psychedelics in psychiatry
10:30: Dr David Erritzoe (UK) – Imperial College Research – Psychedelic therapy in mental health – clinical status and possible brain mechanisms
11:30: Prof. Andrew Harkin & Prof. Declan McLoughlin (IRE) – Preclinical studies in psychedelics and ketamine in the treatment of treatment resistant depression.
12:30: Lunch
13:30: Dr Peter Hendricks (USA) – Psychedelic assisted therapy for addiction disorders: Current results and future directions
14:30: Dr Roberta Murphy (UK) – The role of the therapy in psychedelic assisted therapy
15:30: Tea/Coffee Break
16:00: Panel Discussion: (TBC) The future of psychedelic assisted therapy in Ireland: barriers and challenges
17:30: Closing remarks by IDPAT team, distribution of survey
Speakers:
Prof. John Kelly
John Kelly is associate professor in psychiatry at Trinity College Dublin.
I am interested in everything in psychiatry and neuroscience, but particularly translational neuroscience, the Research Domain Criteria, the microbiome and Psychedelic Science. I am principal investigator on several psychedelic therapy clinical trials in Dublin.
Dr David Erritzoe
David Erritzoe is a psychiatrist and neuroscientist. He has worked at Imperial since 2009, where he runs psychopharmacological and clinical research into the effects and brain mechanisms of psychedelics. He holds a Clinical Senior Lectureship in Psychiatry at Imperial’s Centre Psychedelic Research where he is also the Clinical Director. From early 2021 he is heading a new NHS-based psychopharmacology & psychedelic research clinic at St Charles Hospital, the CIPPRes Clinic.
Prof. Andrew Harkin
Andrew Harkin is Professor in Pharmacology in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Trinity College Dublin. He is a graduate of NUI Galway (B.Sc. 1994; Ph.D. 1998) and prior to joining Trinity College held a lecturing post in the School of Pharmacy, University College Cork. He was elected to Fellowship in Trinity College in 2011. Over the course of his research career he worked in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, Safety Pharmacology Laboratories at H. Lunbeck A/S Valby, Copenhagen and has held post-doctoral research fellowships funded by the Higher Education Authority (Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions) and the Health Research Board of Ireland (career development award, 2002). He leads the Neuropsychopharmacology Research Group in Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience (TCIN) funded by the European Commission (Framework 7 – Brain Imaging Return to Health [R’Birth], a Marie Curie international training network for early stage and experienced researchers and MOODINFLAME; a collaborative, large-scale focused research project with a variety of academic and industrial partners focused on early diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mood disorders targeting the activated inflammatory response system. He has also received project funding from Science Foundation Ireland, Health Research Board and the Irish Research Council. His group collaborates with a variety of academic and industrial partners on fundamental and clinical projects. Current research interests include bi-directional nervous system immune interactions, the role of stress and inflammation in the pathogenesis of mental illness, potential of anti-inflammatory agents in treating neurological and psychiatric disorders, targeting glutamate neuronal transmission in neuropsychiatric disorders and safety pharmacology of recreational drugs. He has co-authored 100 peer-reviewed publications, book chapters and over 150 published abstracts/conference proceedings and has delivered numerous invited lectures and oral presentations at international conferences, workshops and various research institutions. He is a member of the International College of Neuropsychopharmacolgy (CINP), the British Association for Psychopharmacology (BAP) and the Psychoneuroimmunology Research Society (PNIRS) and is a past recipient of the CINP’s Rafaelsen award in recognition of his commitment to the field of neuropsychopharmacology. He is on the editorial boards of a number of journals including Acta Neuropsychiatrica, Brain Behavior and Immunity, PLOS ONE, and Frontiers in Neuropharmacology and Behavioural Neuroscience. He is a founder member of the Depression Interest Group, currently serves as deputy director of the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience and chairs the Animal Research Ethics Committee in TCD. He has a long standing track record in mentoring and training of PhD students, 20 students having completed to date, and has participated in PhD training programmes in TCIN funded under the auspices of the PRTLI. He currently teaches on a number of undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes in TCD including the Pharmacy degree, B.A. Moderatorship in Neuroscience and M.Sc. programmes in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Technology, Neuroscience, Addiction Recovery and Molecular Medicine and is former Director of Postgraduate Teaching and Learning in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Prof. Declan McLoughlin
Declan M McLoughlin PhD MRCPI MRCPsych FTCD is Research Professor of Psychiatry in St Patrick’s University Hospital and Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.
He qualified in Medicine from University College Dublin in 1986. After training in general medicine, he trained in Psychiatry, firstly in Dublin and then at the Maudsley Hospital and Institute of Psychiatry (IOP) in London. He obtained an Alzheimer’s Society Training Fellowship (1994-1997) in the Dept of Neuroscience at the IOP, followed by a Wellcome Advanced Fellowship (1997-2000), during which time he was awarded a PhD in Molecular Neuroscience for his work on Alzheimer’s disease APP-interacting proteins. After this he was appointed as a clinical Senior Lecturer and Consultant in Old Age Psychiatry in the Maudsley Hospital.
In 2007 he took up the new post of Research Professor of Psychiatry in Trinity College Dublin and St Patrick’s University Hospital, where he is also a consultant in Old Age Psychiatry.
Recent research activities include: randomised controlled trials of ECT (EFFECT-Dep Study) and ketamine (KEEP-WELL, KARMA-Dep, KARMA-Dep 2) in severe depression; systematic reviews and meta-analyses; molecular biomarkers (e.g. mRNA, miRNA, telomere length) for depression; molecular mechanisms of action of ECT; and studies on the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on the well-being of health care workers (COWORKER). His work has been supported by the Alzheimer’s Society, Wellcome Trust, NHS Health Technology Assessment Programme, NARSAD, and the Health Research Board.
Prof. Peter Hendricks
Peter Hendricks is Professor at University of Alabama, Birmingham, USA.
Hendricks is currently researching the use of psilocybin to see if it will help individuals addicted to cocaine stop using the harmful drug. He theorizes that psilocybin, which is the active compound found in Psilocybe mushrooms, also known as “magic mushrooms,” will work from the angles: biochemical, psychological and transcendental/spiritual. Hendricks is able to talk about his research as well as novel and more effective treatments for substance abuse dependence, with specific areas of focus on tobacco, cocaine and polysubstance abuse in vulnerable populations.
Dr Roberta Murphy
Dr Roberta Murphy is an Irish psychiatrist based in London. She is currently training as a medical psychotherapist in South West London and St George’s NHS Trust. She is a member of the Imperial Centre for Psychedelic Research. She worked as a study doctor and therapy guide on trials of psilocybin for healthy volunteers, severe depression and eating disorders. She has helped to train other research teams and offers support around issues pertaining to screening. She is interested in alternative approaches to severe and enduring mental health issues.