2023 INSIGHT Travel Grant Recipients

Baeleigh VanderZwaag

Baeleigh is a second year masters student in Clinical Neuropsychology at the University of Victoria. She is a first generation student and the only member of her family to seek secondary education. She completed a BSc Honors in Psychology (First Class distinction) from the University of Calgary in 2020. During her undergraduate degree, she was the lead researcher on a project examining the social cognitive abilities of adults with cervical dystonia which she presented at the Movement Disorders Society in France. This project also led to her first publication which she was first author of, published in the European Journal of Neurology. For her honors thesis, she conducted an EEG study examining differences in EEG patterns between ADHD patients and controls. She presented this award at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute Research Day and received a Top 40 Poster Award for this presentation. At INSIGHT 2023, Baeleigh will present her poster titled: ‘From Field to Fungi: The Role of Psilocybin-Assisted Therapy in Athlete Concussion Recovery."‘

Daniel Belalcazar Serna

Daniel is a junior researcher and aspiring policy analyst with expertise in global drug policy issues, focusing on intersectional areas such as alternative development, drug-related environmental degradation, democratic governance, indigenous epistemes, public health, and harm reduction schemes. After successfully graduating from his MA on Global Studies at the Humboldt University of Berlin, he is working as an intern at the Global Partnership on Drug Policies and Development. He is happy to devote his work to promoting development, health, and human rights-oriented drug policies, with a particular focus on developing and emerging countries. Through collaboration with governments and international organizations, he strives to find sustainable solutions to the multifaceted drug-policy conundrum by combining rural development strategies with public health measures. He also aims to advocate for the integration of these approaches into international drug policy norms, working towards a global consensus.

Hannah Douglass

Hannah is currently a third year PhD Student at the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London. She is currently acting as the clinical trial coordinator for the ongoing Psilocybin as a Treatment for Anorexia Nervosa pilot study. Her PhD research focuses on the safety, feasibility and efficacy of this treatment, in addition to the effects of psilocybin on neuroplasticity, cognitive flexibility and interoceptive awareness in this population. Throughout this study she has become passionate about how participant well-being can be put at the forefront of trial design, and the inclusion of voices from those with lived experience in the design of these studies. This is something she hopes to pursue in her future career. Her background is in neuropsychopharmacology, having received a BSc in Pharmacology from the University of Leeds and an MSc in Translational Neuroscience from Imperial College London. Hannah will be presenting her poster titled: ‘Psilocybin as a Treatment for Anorexia Nervosa: 6-Week and 3-Month Follow-Up Results.’

Javier Hidalgo Jimenez

Javier is a student passionate about science, philosophy and arts. He started studying medicine, but more interested in scientific research than in clinics, he changed his path and graduated in biomedical sciences in 2020. In the last year of his degree he did an internship with ICEERS (International Center for Ethnobotanical Education Research and Services) where he met Dr. José Carlos Bouso, who has been his mentor and friend ever since. He has have collaborated with ICEERS to publish a public health study on cannabis users (where he was the first author) and a review on the significance of DMT naturally present in mammals (first and corresponding author), both in high-impact journals (Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research and Journal of Psychopharmachology, respectively). The latter paper was presented at the Breaking Convention 2023, where he was a speaker.

Kadi Tulver

Kadi is an early career cognitive science researcher from Estonia. Her current research is tightly linked to insight experiences and, more specifically, what it is about altered states of consciousness (such as induced by psychedelics) that is conducive to insights. She is supervising a PhD thesis and collaborating with colleagues on simulating the subjective psychedelic experience in VR as well as conducting theoretical work on the therapeutic mechanisms of psychedelics. Kadi and her colleagues have been accepted to present their VR simulation - which they have developed as a potential (non-commercial) therapeutic tool - as an art installation during the conference. They are eager to discuss it and hear feedback from fellow researchers to help develop the VR experience even further.

Koleka Putuma

Koleka is a theatre practitioner, writer, and poet based in Cape Town, South Africa. Her work explores themes of memory, documentation, performance, legacies of in/visibility, citation, and the dynamics of identity, relationships, religion, and politics. She is a storyteller who merges archival practices, performance, research, and technology to cultivate narratives that attempt to offer avenues of healing and dialogue. She is the founder and director of Manyano Media, a multidisciplinary creative company that empowers and produces stories by black queer women. The organization runs an annual fellowship aimed at supporting and promoting storytellers whose voices and narratives have historically been neglected in South African literature and theater. The initiative aims to expand debates about diversity, inclusion, access, and opportunity throughout the narrative landscape and to push new viewpoints in contemporary cultural discourse. Koleka will attend INSIGHT 2023 as an invited panelist, exhibiting artist and performer.

Marcus Glennon

Marcus is a PhD student at University College London (UCL) involved in the UNITy (Understanding Neuroplasticity Induced by Tryptamines) project. His team is studying the plasticity-enhancing effects of psychedelic drugs such as DMT, broadening the boundaries of our understanding of the mind, the brain, and psychedelic drugs. He undertook his undergraduate degree in psychology and neuroscience at the University of York in Northern England.

Mary-Ann Kubre

Mary-Ann is finishing the first year of her PhD at the University of Tartu in Estonia. For her PhD project she is working with a VR simulation of a psychedelic trip which she will use to potentially alleviate symptoms of alcohol use disorder. She will be joining Karl Kristjan Kaup and Kadi Tulver from her research group for presenting "Psyrreal: A Psychedelic Virtual Reality Experience for VR-Augmented Therapy" at the INSIGHT 2023 Conference.

Meghan DellaCrosse

In June 2023, Meghan received her doctorate in clinical psychology (Psy.D.) from the Wright Institute (WI) in Berkeley, California. As part of her goal to build a career as a culturally responsive researcher-clinician, she was drawn to study at the WI because of the school’s underlying premise––educating clinicians to society––where training focuses extensively on understanding relationships between socio-cultural factors and the impact of systemic oppression (e.g., racism, ableism, sexism, genderism, etc.) on the lives of individuals. She completed her pre-doctoral internship at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, where she pursued specialized training in research and the provision of services for individuals living with psychosis-spectrum disorders. Meghan is currently a post-doctoral scholar with the Center for Psychedelic Drug Research & Education at Ohio State University’s College of Social Work.

Pierre Malychef

Pierre is a medical doctor and researcher from Lebanon. As an aspiring psychiatrist, his interests lie in the effect of psychedelics on the brain for therapeutic purposes, including psychedelic assisted psychotherapy which can offer novel assisted-psychopharmacological treatments for mental health disorders. He is also a professional member in the mental health section of the MIND foundation, and he attended the INSIGHT 2021 conference (online), and ICPR 2022. He has participated in several workshops covering drug harm reduction, awareness, and responding to crisis in party environments, including PsyCare.

Sara Gutierrez Roldan

Sara is a Colombian general practitioner who, after two years of clinical experience, decided to move to Barcelona. After completing her Master's degree in Pharmacology at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, she made a career transition towards the medical affairs area in the pharmaceutical industry. Over the past five years, she has utilized her critical thinking skills, information analysis, and communication abilities to create various medical content, including scientific articles (including observational studies and RWE with extensive databases), study protocols, summary protocols, study results reports, regulatory documents, and medical education programs. In October 2020, she became a mother, and in October 2021, her family relocated to Germany. Since then, she has been volunteering with the MIND Foundation, translating their blog from English to Spanish. This experience has allowed her to immerse herself in the psychedelic field and contribute to providing Spanish speakers with relevant information regarding psychedelics.

Šimon Král

Šimon is a student currently pursuing an MSc in Psychological Sciences at University College London. He previously obtained a B.A. in Philosophy from Trinity College Dublin, where he graduated with First Class Honors. His undergraduate dissertation, entitled "Psychedelic Experience and the Alleviation of Death Anxiety," explores the potential of understanding the effectiveness of psychedelic assisted therapy for existential anxiety through the framework of Heidegger´s philosophy and existential psychotherapy. At INSIGHT 2023, Šimon will be giving a talk titled: ‘Psychedelic Experience and the Releasement of Death Anxiety.’

Túlio Pereira Alvarenga e Castro

Túlio is a Brazilian medical student in his fifth year at Universidade Federal dos Vales do Jequitinhonha e Mucuri (UFVJM). As an individual deeply engaged in the field of mental health and with a specific focus on psychedelic science since the beginning of my academic career, he brings a unique perspective and a strong commitment to curiosity and inclusion. His journey into mental health began with a personal experience that ignited a passion for understanding the therapeutic potential of psychedelics and their relationship with indigenous cultures, particularly in Brazil. Through his current project on psychedelics, he is actively exploring the use of ayahuasca, a psychoactive beverage of indigenous origin, as a therapeutic agent for individuals with substance use disorders.