Speaker Bio
Dr. Mourad Wahba is a consultant psychiatrist working in Newcastle as lead for the mood disorders research clinic. Being of Egyptian origin, Mourad came to the UK in 2014 to work in Psychiatry with a special interest in mood disorders, psychopharmacology, and psychedelic assisted psychotherapy, and has dedicated his career to combining his passions. He led the local delivery of the Compass pathways sponsored phase 2b trial investigating psilocybin for treatment resistant depression, and is supporting the phase 3 trial as Principal Investigator. A proponent for psychedelic therapy, he aims to increase local awareness by engaging in public outreach and education and has delivered numerous lectures to clinicians and the general public over the past few years, alongside publishing in peer reviewed journals, and writing educational pieces for establishments such as the local Recovery College and Life Science Centre in Newcastle. He is the co-founder of the Newcastle psychedelic society, and is involved in developing the local infrastructure to support psychedelic clinical trials in Newcastle, the latest being the newly developed psychedelic integration group ran by his colleagues.
ICPR 2024 Abstract
Participant and Clinician Reflections on a Challenging Experience in a Clinical Trial
In July 2021 Maryam Jabir received a 25mg dose of psilocybin as part of a phase IIb trial for treatment-resistant depression. On dosing day, she had a difficult experience, followed by a worsening of mood, suicidal ideas, and struggles with eating that persisted for months. Despite this deterioration and her characterisation as a non-responder by the quantitative measures used in the study, Maryam experienced clear functional improvement, making several positive changes to her life including starting a new job and looking after her health. In this talk, Maryam will reflect on her experience of being a trial participant and how her psilocybin experience affected her life. She will be joined by Dr Mourad Wahba and Dr Caroline Hayes who provide a clinician’s perspective. They will share their own reflections on the process and wider issues within psychedelic research that were highlighted through this experience, with some suggestions moving forwards.