Speaker Bio
Leonie Schneider, a passionate mental health advocate, is committed to expanding access to psychedelic assisted therapies by advocating for the safe and integrated use of psychedelics. After participating in a Psilocybin for Depression trial at Imperial College (2019) and Small Pharma’s DMT for Depression trial (2022), she co-founded the Psychedelic Participant Advocacy Network (PsyPAN) to help inform the delivery of trial and treatment design from a participant perspective. Leonie’s recognition as one of the top 20 influential, innovative, and disruptive women in psychedelics speaks to her commitment to enhancing participant well-being and improved outcomes.
Ian Roullier is the co-founder of the Psychedelic Participant Advocacy Network (PsyPAN). Ian’s participation in clinical trials run by Imperial College (2015) and King’s College/Compass Pathways (2019), both examining the effect of psilocybin on depression, naturally led to his dedication to helping bring these treatments safely to all who may benefit from them. PsyPAN works with organisations providing psychedelic-assisted therapy with the aim of helping create a sector-wide model of best practice with participant wellbeing placed at its heart, and also aims to provide much-needed community and connection for people who have received these treatments.
ICPR 2024 Abstract
Best practices for patient-centred psychedelic clinical trials
Theoretical Background and Rationale:
Psychedelic-assisted therapy (PAT) holds great promise for addressing the huge unmet needs faced by people living with neuropsychiatric conditions but best practices for ensuring participant well-being throughout PAT are yet to be developed. PsyPAN, a non-profit organisation dedicated to enhancing participant safety and well-being in psychedelic studies, has partnered with Beckley Psytech, a clinical-stage biotechnology company leading the development of psychedelic medicines, to understand the most effective means of supporting patients through a psychedelic treatment model. This transformative project has culminated in the creation of a groundbreaking whitepaper which is intended to be used as a playbook for all industry stakeholders, to be launched at ICPR.
Research Question and Hypothesis:
The central question this collaborative project sought to address was: How can the lived experiences of individuals in psychedelic clinical trials enhance participant safety, inform best practices, and scale research effectively?
Methods and Analysis:
PsyPAN and Beckley Psytech convened a Patient Council and conducted several workshops to extract participant’s valuable insights. They then undertook a thematic analysis of the insights and synthesised these into a whitepaper, focusing on enhancing participant safety, well-being and therapeutic outcomes in psychedelic research.
Main Findings:
The whitepaper offers a patient-centred framework for ensuring participant well-being throughout the psychedelic treatment process, emphasising the importance of trust, communication and psychedelically-informed support before, during and after treatment.
Conclusion:
The whitepaper, to be launched at ICPR, signifies a vital step in psychedelic research and formulates best practices to ensure safer and more effective psychedelic therapy.