17 papers in the library · 897 citations · publishing 2021-2026
JAMA Psychiatry October 21, 2026 Ellen Bradley, Parker Kelley, Balázs Szigeti et al.
This nonrandomized clinical trial assesses associations between psilocybin therapy and changes in systemic markers of inflammation and mitochondrial stress in people with Parkinson disease and mood dysfunction.
Brain, Behavior, and Immunity September 28, 2026 Anna Skovgaard Lerche, Dennis Parker Kelley, Michael E Benros et al.
Serotonergic psychedelics are promising treatments for neuropsychiatric disorders, and their immunomodulatory effects may contribute to their clinical efficacy. However, we lack a systematic review and meta-analysis of these effects across in vitro, in vivo non-human, and human studies. We systematically searched PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, PsycINFO, LILACS and ClinicalTrials.gov for all...
Journal of Psychopharmacology August 29, 2026 Marlene Tai, Balázs Szigeti, Amanda E. Downey et al.
BACKGROUND Psilocybin, a serotonergic psychedelic found in hallucinogenic mushrooms, is metabolized to psilocin, the compound responsible for its psychoactive effects. Psilocybin has demonstrated therapeutic potential for neuropsychiatric conditions. While recent trials have primarily used orally administered synthetic psilocybin, alternative formulations and delivery methods may offer...
Neuropsychopharmacology April 9, 2025 Ellen Bradley, Kimberly Sakai, Gisele Fernandes-Osterhold et al. 23 citations
Mood dysfunction is highly prevalent in Parkinson's disease (PD), a main predictor of functional decline, and difficult to treat-novel interventions are critically needed. Psilocybin shows early promise for treating depression and anxiety, but its potential in PD is unknown, as safety concerns have excluded people with neurodegenerative disease from previous trials. In this open-label pilot...
Psychiatry Research March 1, 2025 Stephanie L. Haft, Amanda E. Downey, Marissa Raymond-Flesch et al. 22 citations
A lack of diverse and representative participant samples in mental health intervention research perpetuates mental health disparities. This issue has become a salient concern in studies of psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (PAT), which is emerging as a promising mental health intervention. This systematic review evaluates the reporting, representation, and analysis of participant...
JAMA Psychiatry March 1, 2025 Michelle Matvey, Dennis Parker Kelley, Ellen Bradley et al. 12 citations
There is unprecedented clinician, industry, and patient interest in the therapeutic development of psychedelic drugs. This is due to a combination of promising clinical trial results, positive media coverage, and the lack of novel pharmacologic treatments for psychiatric disorders in recent decades. However, the field faces a key methodological challenge: masking participants to treatment...
Psychopharmacology August 1, 2024 Jacob S. Aday, David Horton, Gisele Fernandes-Osterhold et al. 39 citations
Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy (PAP) has emerged as a potential treatment for a variety of mental health conditions, including substance use disorders and depression. Current models of PAP emphasize the importance of psychotherapeutic support before, during, and after ingestion of a psychedelic to maximize safety and clinical benefit. Despite this ubiquitous assumption, there has been...
Psychopharmacology August 1, 2024 Kimberly Sakai, Ellen Bradley, Joseph A. Zamaria et al. 10 citations
Treatments with the serotonergic psychedelic psilocybin are being investigated for multiple neuropsychiatric disorders. Because many patients with these disorders use selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), understanding interactions between psilocybin and SSRIs is critical for evaluating the safety, efficacy, and scalability of psilocybin-based treatments. Current knowledge about...
Psychedelic Medicine February 28, 2024 Joshua Woolley, Amanda E. Downey, Ellen Bradley et al. 2 citations
Balancing the need for effective treatments against the potential for serious adverse events in those undergoing psilocybin therapy with a family history of BD, we argue for caution in psychedelic clinical trials but not outright exclusion of these individuals. Our risk stratification tool allows for more nuanced inclusion and exclusion criteria.
JAMA August 31, 2023 Charles L. Raison, Gerard Sanacora, Joshua Woolley et al. 493 citations
Importance Psilocybin shows promise as a treatment for major depressive disorder (MDD). Objective To evaluate the magnitude, timing, and durability of antidepressant effects and safety of a single dose of psilocybin in patients with MDD. Design, Setting, and Participants In this phase 2 trial conducted between December 2019 and June 2022 at 11 research sites in the US, participants were...
Psychedelic Medicine February 16, 2023 Zachary Skiles, Noa Eaton, Lisa Fredenburg et al. 49 citations
Background: An emerging controversy in psychedelic therapy regards the appropriateness or necessity of psychedelic therapists having personal experience using psychedelics themselves. Although there are a number of potential advantages and disadvantages to personal use among psychedelic therapists, no studies to date have measured their use or other aspects of their training. Materials and...
Psychopharmacology April 1, 2022 Jacob S. Aday, Boris D. Heifets, Steven D. Pratscher et al. 214 citations
RationalePsychedelic research continues to garner significant public and scientific interest with a growing number of clinical studies examining a wide range of conditions and disorders. However, expectancy effects and effective condition masking have been raised as critical limitations to the interpretability of the research.ObjectiveIn this article, we review the many methodological...
Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences 2022 Amanda J Khan, Ellen Bradley, Aoife O'Donovan et al.
Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating, chronic disorder and efficacy rates of current PTSD treatments are underwhelming. There is a critical need for innovative approaches. We provide an overview of trauma and PTSD and cite literature providing converging evidence of the therapeutic potential of psilocybin for PTSD. No study to date has investigated psilocybin or...
Journal of Affective Disorders Reports September 22, 2021 David E. Gard, Mollie Pleet, Ellen Bradley et al. 33 citations
Growing evidence suggests that psilocybin, the active ingredient in hallucinogenic mushrooms, can rapidly and durably improve symptoms of depression, leading to recent breakthrough status designation by the FDA and legalization for mental health treatment in some jurisdictions. Depression in bipolar disorder is associated with significant morbidity and has few effective treatments. However,...
medRxiv April 7, 2021 David E. Gard, Mollie Pleet, Ellen Bradley et al. preprint
Abstract Objective: Given the treatment limitations of depression in bipolar disorder, we evaluated the known risks of using psilocybin (and similar substances) in this population, including a systematic assessment of published case histories, to assess the risk of psilocybin as a treatment of depression in bipolar disorder. Data Sources: A comprehensive search of case studies published through...
Balázs Szigeti, Ellen Bradley, Joshua Woolley preprint
On August 9th the US Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) rejected 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine assisted therapy (MDMA-AT) as a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), despite seemingly positive trial results. A major reason cited was functional unmasking, which combined with enthusiasm about MDMA, raised concerns about the objectivity of these trials. Here, we define what is...
Amanda E. Downey, Ellen Bradley, Daniel Dickison et al. preprint
Psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy is generating substantial clinical interest, yet despite growing economic scrutiny, a practical question has received surprisingly little attention: how do specific delivery decisions drive cost? Labor costs—typically the dominant cost component of psychedelic therapy delivery—depend on a tangle of interacting design choices: the number, length, and staffing...