ICPR features world-leading experts from many different academic disciplines, from psychiatry, psychology, and neuroscience, to anthropology, ethnobotany and philosophy who come together to give a scientific conference for academics, therapists, researchers, clinicians, and members of the public. OPEN Foundation has organised 5 large and international conferences since 2010
ICPR is a scientific conference for academics, therapists, researchers, clinicians, policymakers, and members of the public.
ICPR features many of the world’s leading experts in psychedelic research and therapies from across many fields, including psychiatry, neuroscience, psychology, and anthropology.
ICPR is a podium for a wide variety of ideas, disciplines, perspectives, localities, and individuals involved in psychedelic research.
Dr. Katrin Preller received her M.Sc. (Neuropsychology and Clinical Psychology) from University of Konstanz, Germany. She joined the University of Zurich where she investigated the neurobiological long-term effects of cocaine, MDMA, and heroin use. After completing her PhD, she investigated the effects of psychedelics on self-perception and social cognition at the Neuropsychopharmacology and Brain Imaging Lab. She received a SNSF PostDoc mobility fellowship and worked at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging, UCL, London, and Yale University, New Haven. Subsequently, she was appointed as Junior Group Leader at the University of Zurich, and holds a position as Visiting Assistant Professor at Yale University.
David E. Nichols, PhD is currently an Adjunct Professor at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus at the Purdue University College of Pharmacy and was the Robert C. and Charlotte P. Anderson Distinguished Chair in Pharmacology, where he taught and did research for 38 years. He is also Director of Molecular Pharmacology at Eleusis Therapeutics. In 2004 he was named the Irvine H. Page Lecturer by the International Society for Serotonin Research, received the first Purdue Provost’s Outstanding Graduate Mentor award in 2006 and was named a Distinguished Alumnus by the University of Iowa College of Pharmacy in 2012. He began studying psychedelics as a graduate student in 1969. His lab synthesized DMT for Dr. Rick Strassman, the MDMA for MAPS Phase I and II clinical trials, and the psilocybin used for human clinical studies conducted at Johns Hopkins University. In 1993 he founded the Heffter Research Institute (HRI), which funded the first groundbreaking Phase I and II studies of psilocybin for the treatment of depression, and pilot studies for treating alcohol use disorder, and tobacco addiction. He is considered the world’s leading expert on the chemistry of psychedelics.
Appointed as Associate Professor at Maastricht University, at the Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience.
My main topics of interest are MDMA and psychedelics, and their effects on (social) cognition, creativity, hormones, and underlying brain mechanisms.
Rick Doblin is not only head of Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), which is the organization that serves as a major starting point for psychedelic studies, he is also the preeminent researcher on MDMA assisted psychotherapy for PTSD and addiction patients. He was the first to conduct a randomized controlled study in this matter. A follow up study on the subjects indicated that a majority of the subjects expressed symptomatic relief from the MDMA-assisted psychotherapy, they were previously unresponsive to existing treatments. Due to this success, he pushed through with the latest study consisting of conducting MDMA-assisted psychotherapy on military veterans, firefighters, and police officers, who have experienced trauma in the field.
Erika Dyck is a Professor and a Canada Research Chair in the History of Health & Social Justice at the University of Saskatchewan. She is the author of Psychedelic Psychiatry (2008); Facing Eugenics (2013); co-author of Managing Madness (2017), Challenging Choices (2020), and The Acid Room (2022), and co-editor of Psychedelic Prophets (2018), A Culture’s Catalyst (2016) and Wonder Drug (2021).
In collaboration with Amanda Feilding and the Beckley Foundation, David Nutt is working on the effects of psychedelics on cerebral blood flow.
David Nutt is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, Royal College of Psychiatrists and the Academy of Medical Sciences. He holds visiting professorships in Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands. He is a past president of the British Association of Psychopharmacology and of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology.
one of the leading figures in the neurosciences, assisting various European Union nations to prioritize research and grants. In addition, her research into the brain and its chemistry during depression, Alzheimer's disease, and states induced by drugs such as GHB and ecstasy (MDMA) is at the forefront of world knowledge, and she is a noted scholar in these areas, publishing many papers on each topic.
Coordinator of the training programme for MAPS studies of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD in the Netherlands.
• COLONEL, Head of Research Military Mental Health, Ministry of Defense - Acquisition and coordination of research projects on advancement of knowledge in stress and trauma-related disorders.
• PROFESSOR, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands - Focus on medical- biological and psychiatric aspects of psychotrauma.
• PROFESSOR, Arq Psychotrauma Research Group, Diemen, the Netherlands - Coordination and supervision of research on the biological, psychological and societal impact of stress and trauma.
• PSYCHIATRIST/PSYCHOTHERAPIST, Licensed psychiatrist and psychotherapist focused on treatment of in - and outpatient care for soldiets and veterans. Specializing in posttraumatic stress, mTBI, medical unexplained physical symptoms as well as disaster psychiatry.
Specialties: psychiatry, neuroscience, PTSD, stress, military, war history, dissociation, imaging, memory, hypnosis
Peter Gasser has been trained in psychodynamic methods and has worked extensively with psychedelic drugs. He is a member of the Swiss Medical Society for Psycholytic Therapy since 1992 and its president since 1996. He has been working as a psychiatrist and psychotherapist in private practice since 1997 in Solothurn, Switzerland. His continued work with psychedelic-assisted therapy in his practice puts him in a unique position. On an individual basis, Peter Gasser is able to apply for exemptions to compassionately use MDMA and LSD since 2014.
From 2008 to 2012 he conducted a randomized controlled trial with LSD assisted treatment in patients suffering from life-threatening diseases. The study found that LSD administered in a medically supervised psychotherapeutic setting can be safe and generate lasting benefits in patients with a life-threatening disease. A second study with the same study questions is running from 2017 to 2021.
Coordinator of the training programme for MAPS studies of MDMA-assisted therapy for PTSD in The Netherlands.
• COLONEL, Head of Research Military Mental Health, Ministry of Defense - Acquisition and coordination of research projects on advancement of knowledge in stress and trauma-related disorders.
• PROFESSOR, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands - Focus on medical- biological and psychiatric aspects of psychotrauma.
• PROFESSOR, Arq Psychotrauma Research Group, Diemen, the Netherlands - Coordination and supervision of research on the biological, psychological and societal impact of stress and trauma.
• PSYCHIATRIST/PSYCHOTHERAPIST, Licensed psychiatrist and psychotherapist focused on treatment of in - and outpatient care for soldiets and veterans. Specializing in posttraumatic stress, mTBI, medical unexplained physical symptoms as well as disaster psychiatry.
Specialties: psychiatry, neuroscience, PTSD, stress, military, war history, dissociation, imaging, memory, hypnosis
Mendel Kaelen is the founder and CEO of Wavepaths, a startup providing music both for and music as psychedelic therapy. Prior to this, he worked as a PhD and postdoctoral neuroscientist at Imperial College London since 2012, where his research was the first to demonstrate music’s central role in psychedelic therapies. He is a thought leader on the therapeutic use of music and publishes and speaks frequently on this topic. He has been featured in Nature News, San Francisco Chronicles, Vice Motherboard, Rolling Stone and TEDx. Mendel lives and works on planet Earth, and in his spare time likes to get into nature, and out of his mind with his musical instruments.
His work has been leading the modern renaissance of metaphysical idealism, the notion that reality is essentially mental. He has a Ph.D. in philosophy (ontology, philosophy of mind) and another Ph.D. in computer engineering (reconfigurable computing, artificial intelligence). As a scientist, Bernardo has worked for the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the Philips Research Laboratories (where the 'Casimir Effect' of Quantum Field Theory was discovered). Formulated in detail in many academic papers and books, his ideas have been featured on 'Scientific American,' the 'Institute of Art and Ideas,' the 'Blog of the American Philosophical Association' and 'Big Think,' among others.
A philosopher; qualitative researcher; PhD candidate at the psychiatry departments of the UMCG and LUMC; lover of sounds (music is especially favourite); executive director of the OPEN Foundation; stimulator of multi/inter/transdisciplinary psychedelic research; organizer of: scientific conferences, expert meetings, symposia, lectures of same. Lecturer, also. Together-bringer of academics and clinicians interested in psychedelics. Formerly involved, both practically and academically, in harm reduction and drug policy research.
Enthusiastic and inquisitive about life, consciousness, the universe and everything. Avid capoeirista, lover of strange cultures albeit increasingly hesitant to travel, scuba diver, whisky fan. Speaker of languages. Scared of climate change. Independent, analytical, critical. Non-buyer of bullshit. Proponent of openness and collaboration in science. Book reader. Relentlessly curious.
The Interdisciplinary Conference on Psychedelics Research (ICPR), sponsored by the OPEN Foundation, is a tremendous gathering of psychedelic researchers, pioneers, thought-leaders, therapists, and others, with knowledgeable and sophisticated attendees, gathering in a context that facilitates in-depth discussions of the ideas at the cutting-edge of the psychedelic renaissance. It’s one of the most important psychedelic conferences in the world.
ICPR is the oldest, more solid and sincere platform of psychedelic science in the Netherlands and Europe. Not only does it combine scientific knowledge and humanism, but it's composed of an awesome team of young, vibrant and dedicated people. At the Chacruna Institute, we are very aligned with their work and hold long ties of friendship.
In the past I have attended the ICPR event as an invited speaker twice. It is a fabulous conference, with the perfect mixture of speakers and attendees; those who are leading the world with their scientific expertise in the field of psychedelic research, and also those leading the fascinating and essential cultural, artistic and exploratory aspects of psychedelics. The conference setting is beautiful and the staff and infrastructure of ICPR events is second to none. ICPR is an excellent place to meet people, network in the field of psychedelics and come away having learned the latest cutting edge research. Totally recommended!
The ICPR 2020 presented a breadth and depth of themes and speakers that would be difficult to match elsewhere, on- or offline. From indigenous roots to the latest in science, it was a celebration of what psychedelics and psychedelic research have to offer. Being able to ask Michael Mithoefer direct questions was a personal highlight.
ICPR 2020 connected me to a world of research on psychedelics. Not only was I able to learn about the latest psychedelic trials, but I could also put these in a much wider context. With such a diverse speaker list, the conference was truly interdisciplinary.
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