Friday, August 19th, 2022 from 12:00-1:30pm PST

On July 22, 2022, facing opposition from a coalition of scientists and companies, the DEA announced they were withdrawing their proposal to ban five psychedelics. On July 26, 2022, the department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the same org that submitted concern to the DEA of these psychedelics in 2012, expressed support of exploring psychedelic-assisted therapy. That same day, a bipartisan bill to make Psilocybin, MDMA and other Schedule 1 substances available for terminally ill patients was introduced. What does this mean for the future of psychedelic research? In this community forum, Matthew Baggott, Ph.D, Alaina Jaster, Dillan DiNardo and Graham Pechenik will provide a retrospective of their experiences in the landmark case against the DEA, along with the history of scheduling psychedelics, and the impact on research and communities. They will go through the process of showcasing how this collective effort of scientists and orgs rallying against the DEA, along with strong public support, yielded an unexpected victory. They will further share perspectives on what this precedent may mean for the future of psychedelics in relation to the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, the evolving role of the DEA, FDA and HHS, the influence on the cases with the psychedelics DOI and DOC, and the long road ahead to ensure psychedelics are all removed from the most restrictive drug regulation category.

Dillan DiNardo is the co-founder and CEO of Mindstate Design Labs, a preclinical-stage biotechnology company developing modified conscious states for therapeutic applications in mental health disorders. Dillan previously worked in venture capital, executing and managing over 50 biopharma, medical device, and healthtech investments ranging from pre-seed spinouts to publicly traded companies.

Alaina Jaster is a neuropharmacologist studying the potential therapeutic mechanisms of existing and novel psychedelics using preclinical models of depression and addiction at Virginia Commonwealth University. She received her bachelor's degree in Neuroscience from Central Michigan University in 2018 where she focused on ketamine induced neuroplasticity. She is passionate about her research but also about bringing advocacy and science education to non-specialists by making research more accessible. To that end, she has written multiple articles for Psychedelic Science Review and has recently started her own website and brand, Your Brain on Science, to provide a multimedia approach to understanding science. Alaina is also involved in outreach associated with drug policy and harm reduction.

Matthew Baggott, PhD, is a neuroscientist who has worked across three decades to legally study MDMA and related molecules within the complex regulatory system that surrounds controlled substances. Matthew is co-founder and CEO of Tactogen Inc, a public benefit corporation that is developing a next-generation of MDMA-like medicines. Before starting Tactogen, Matthew was most recently a Director of Data Science & Engineering at Genentech. Matthew studied philosophy as an undergraduate at University of Chicago and earned his PhD in neuroscience at University of California Berkeley.

Graham Pechenik is a registered patent attorney, and the founder of Calyx Law. He has a BS from UC San Diego, where he chose his Cognitive Neuroscience and Biochemistry majors after his first psychedelic experiences inspired deep curiosity about the bases for changes in consciousness, and a JD from NYU, where he initially pursued interests in bioethics and cognitive liberty. After a decade at large law firms representing companies in the agricultural, chemical, pharmaceutical, biotech, and technology industries, including litigating patents at trial and on appeal, Graham started Calyx Law to work with cannabis and psychedelics ventures. Graham is also editor-at-large of Psilocybin Alpha, where he writes about psychedelics IP, provides data for patent trackers, and helps maintain a psychedelics legalization and decriminalization tracker, and he is a member of Chacruna’s Council for the Protection of Sacred Plants. He was raised in Oakland, CA, and currently lives in San Francisco.

This talk will be recorded and immediately available for rewatch for all attendees.

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