Speaker Bio
Anya is a clinical research consultant currently based in London, UK. At Beckley Psytech, Anya is involved in clinical trials doing qualitative interviews to understand participants’ subjective experiences with a fascinating psychedelic substance, 5-MeO-DMT. Anya is also a board member of Chacruna Institute.
Anya’s research interests include neuroscience and mental health, but also nature conservation and ethnobotany, all interweaved together through psychedelic science. Currently she stays involved both in the conservation and psychiatry research – and hope one day they can merge into one project!
Anya studied biology at the University of Edinburgh and has MSc in Conservation Biology from Imperial College London. Anya completed PhD in psychiatry at the University of Cambridge, where she investigated the origins of psychosis. Anya worked at the forefront of psychedelic research since 2015, as a science officer at the Beckley Foundation, and has provided psychedelic welfare and harm reduction services with PsycareUK and Zendo.
ICPR 2024 Abstract
Mapping the 5-MeO-DMT experience: insights from microphenomenology interviews in phase 1 trials.
Introduction: 5-Methoxy-N,N-dimethyltryptamine (5-MeO-DMT) is a naturally occurring psychedelic tryptamine, produced by a variety of species. Plants containing 5-MeO-DMT have been used throughout history and in recent years both synthetic and toad-derived 5-MeO-DMT are rapidly gaining popularity. Clinical development has started where 5-MeO-DMT is explored in healthy volunteers and in treatment-resistant depression – however no qualitative research studies have been published yet on this fascinating compound.
Methods: Our research is part of two double-blind, randomized, phase 1, single ascending dose studies to evaluate the safety, tolerability and pharmacokinetic profile of intranasal 5-MeO-DMT. Healthy, psychedelic-naïve volunteers who took part in this study were interviewed shortly after their 5-MeO-DMT or placebo experience. Microphenomenological techniques were used both during the interview and analysis.
Results: 5-MeO-DMT has unique profile of subjective effects because of a combination of a short duration of action, relative lack of visual effects, strong emotional or bodily experiences and a potential to elicit therapeutically relevant content, such as emotional breakthroughs and personal insights. 5-MeO-DMT at the doses tested was generally well tolerated and produced experiences that were often considered highly meaningful and significant by the study volunteers.
Conclusion: Psychedelic experience is highly individual and personal, and phenomenological inquiry is perfectly suited to illuminate the rich inner landscapes that unfold during a psychedelic session. It complements and enriches commonly used quantitative measures and can reveal therapeutic features of the psychedelic experience relevant for depression and other mental health problems.