Research chair will put U of C at forefront of psychedelic therapy movement

CALGARY — Thanks to a donation from a former student, the University of Calgary will be establishing a new position that will help examine the effectiveness of psychedelics in treating mental illness.

The Parker Psychedelic Research Chair was made possible with a $3 million donation from Jim Parker, a local businessman who has also started the Bloom Psychedelic Therapy clinic in Calgary.

He said that his eyes were opened to this sort of treatment after his niece was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) several years ago.

“I was very concerned about Courtney, and in 2018 I started reading psychedelic-related research papers out of Johns Hopkins, Imperial College and others. The data was showing that psychedelics were providing benefits to people suffering from anxiety, depression, addiction and PTSD. At that time there weren’t any options for this type of treatment in Canada, so we decided together on a clinic in California,” Parker said.

After several rounds of treatment involving the sedative ketamine, Courtney said she started to notice a significant change.

“They took me into a room with a chair and sleeping mask and headphones with spa music. The ketamine took me out of body — you’re able to see your trauma from a third-party perspective, which was really helpful,” she said. “For the first time, I could see myself from a place of compassion. It was not easy to go through, but it was definitely beneficial.”

Ketamine is not the only substance being used for this type of treatment, as varied degrees of success have been seen with MDMA and psilocybin. Some other clinics are currently using these substances, helping a range of clients including armed forces veterans.

RELATED: Canadian veteran hoping to make use of psilocybin to treat mental illness

While ketamine can be used a bit more easily in a clinical setting, in order to use a substance like psilocybin — which is still treated as illegal under the Criminal Code — a special exemption is needed from Health Canada in order to administer it to patients.

This has not stopped people from experimenting, though, as many people consume small amounts of it — commonly known as micro-dosing — in order to see some positive mental health effects without becoming fully under the influence.

When applying this to a medical setting, there is a high potential of seeing some results and the research chair at the university can ideally help refine methods.

“To move the needle a little bit on looking beyond sort of what we currently have available, because we know we need to do better,” said Dr. Valerie Taylor, head of the Department of Psychiatry at the Cumming School of Medicine. “The legalization of cannabis has gone a long way to do that, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg.”

There’s hope that using the substances more widely and nailing down some scientific facts about its effectiveness can also de-stigmatize them in society.

Dr. Taylor added it is extremely exciting because she is only aware of one other institution doing this type of research: the world-renowned Johns Hopkins University in Maryland.

“We’re in good company,” she said.

The added benefit of Parker establishing this research chair in Calgary is that his clinic can also assist in some of the work, and forward findings from their work to the school to factor into the overall project.

Sabrina Syne is Director of Operations at Bloom Psychedelic and she said this treatment is unconventional and adaptable.

READ MORE: 

• Remain vigilant as restrictions ease, says infectious disease specialist
• Auditor scolds Alberta over mine cleanup fund, how province handles polluted sites
• Kenney government’s $1.3B pipeline investment wasted: experts

 

“This is not a one-size-fits-all approach. The therapeutic program is designed to be tailored to people’s needs, and also the goal-setting is based on what clients want, not what we see as success.”

Syne said they combine the ketamine treatments with more traditional types of therapy, to help people better recover from traumatic experiences in their lives.

“The ketamine also induces neuroplasticity and neurogenesis, so there’s an opportunity for growth of new neurons and change of wiring within the brain. So, it creates some lasting change with the enhanced therapy.”

Syne added that what they do in a clinical setting is not the same as micro-dosing, because they are using full doses of ketamine but under a supervised setting. They will also be exploring options for Health Canada exemptions so they can offer psilocybin or MDMA treatments as well.

They are currently in the process of upgrading the clinic, hoping to make it seem less like a doctor’s office so it becomes more welcoming and approachable for patients. People can also receive consultations and more information from staff.

Dr. Taylor said they are undergoing an international search for candidates to lead the research, and expects to get a lot of interesting applications from around the world. She said they will have full control of the program, and it will be up to that chair to determine how to best move forward.

She added that there is a lot of room to grow in the field of psychiatry, and while there is some past research already done on this subject, the university can put it on a new level.

“This will just springboard off that and hopefully take it to the next level, there’s lots of different research within this area,” she said.

Taylor said there’s competing schools of thought on this topic, ranging from interest in methods such as micro-dosing, and being sceptical about the whole thing. She said they will go into this with an open mind, to try and generate some solid information.

With conversations improving around mental health and society taking a more open-minded approach to the subject, Syne said this is a crucial project and the fact it is happening right here in Calgary is thrilling.

“We’re doing it here, we’re doing it right, we’re doing it with science, and we’re doing it with care in mind,” she said. “We hope to help support a big shift in mental health care, not only in Calgary but in Canada and beyond.”