Advisory Panel

Dr Scott Aaronson, MD, is director of clinical research programs at Sheppard Pratt Health System in Baltimore, Maryland. He is an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Dr Aaronson specializes in treatment-resistant affective disorders. His work focuses on the development of various novel paradigms including psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy to treat severe mood disorders. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Clinical TMS Society and the American Society for Clinical Psychopharmacology. Dr Aaronson earned his MD with honors from Harvard Medical School and completed a residency in psychiatry at McLean Hospital.  He is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a Fellow of the American College of Psychiatrists.

Dr Tanveer Ahmed is a psychiatrist, author and columnist. He works in the public, private and forensic sectors. He is an Adjunct lecturer at UNSW. He writes a regular column for the Australian Financial Review. His last book Fragile Nation examines the rise of mental health disorders through patient stories. He has served on local government, the government advisory body called the Australian Multicultural Council, the Advertising Standards Board and as a Governor of the Smith Family. He was previously chosen by a PMs committee as one of a hundred future leaders of Australia.

Dr Mario advocates and embodies a ‘whole picture’ approach to health. He marries his professional skills in Western Medicine with wisdom and knowledge gained from personal interaction with spiritual elders, shamans and medical pioneers across the world. He has travelled to over 50 countries gaining unique insights into the human condition.

His signature program RESET is as a breakthrough program to prepare for and integrate psychedelic medicines and to effectively provide holistic solutions to the healing of trauma.  Based in Byron Bay, Australia, his Reset Retreats Centre focuses on integration therapies and embodiment to the teachings of the various Psychedelic medicines.

Well loved by his patients for his deep intuitive presence, he has a passion for community, and the integration between science and spirituality.

Mario is a Graduate of the first pioneering cohort of Mind Medicine Australia’s Certificate in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies™ course.

Chris M. Bache, Ph.D. is Professor Emeritus in the department of Philosophy and Religious Studies at Youngstown State University where he taught for 33 years. He is also Adjunct Faculty at the California Institute of Integral Studies, Emeritus Fellow at the Institute of Noetic Sciences, and on the Advisory Board of Grof Legacy Training. Chris’ passion has been the study of the philosophical implications of non-ordinary states of consciousness, especially psychedelic states. An award-winning teacher and international speaker, Chris has written four books: Lifecycles – a study of reincarnation in light of contemporary consciousness research; Dark Night, Early Dawn – a pioneering work in psychedelic philosophy; The Living Classroom – an exploration of collective fields of consciousness in teaching; and LSD and the Mind of the Universe – the story of his 20-year journey with LSD. Chris lives in Weaverville, NC, with his wife Christina Hardy, a professional astrologer and past-life therapist. His website is chrisbache.com

Greg Barns is a barrister, author and company director.  Greg worked as a senior adviser to a number of federal and state ministers and leaders and ran the 1999 Republic Referendum campaign with Malcolm Turnbull.  He is former National President of the Australian Lawyers Alliance and is a regular commentator on human rights issues.  Greg has been a leading advocate of drug law reform in Australia and has written extensively on the subject.  He has also written and spoken publicly about his own experience living with depression and anxiety.  Greg is the author of four books on Australian politics. He practices from Hobart and Melbourne and has acted in a number of medical cannabis cases.

Professor Ian Brighthope graduated in Agricultural Science in 1965 and then in 1974 graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery. He has travelled widely throughout Europe, The Americas and Asia searching for solutions to the problems created by significant gaps in the medical training of doctors. The Brighthope Clinics and Biocentres were developed in the 1970’s. They specialised in Nutritional Medicine, Environmental Medicine and intravenous therapies. As founding president of Australasian College of Nutritional and Environmental Medicine (ACNEM) and president for over 26 years, Professor Brighthope pioneered the first post-graduate medical course in nutrition and nutritional medicine and its related fellowship in Australia. He is now the official ambassador of ACNEM.

He has had training and extensive experience in Crisis Management, Risk Management and Public/Government Relations. He has also had extensive experience in the pharmaceutical manufacturing and exporting industry as the managing director of a TGA licensed manufacturing facility.

In 2001 to 2003 he was President of the Complementary Healthcare Council of Australia, the peak industry body for Complementary Medicines. In September, 2003, he delivered the Telstra National Press Club address on complementary medicines and sustainable health in an ageing population.

Elizabeth Bryan is currently Chairman of IAG, the largest general insurance company in Australia and New Zealand.

She has had a long career as an executive in business and government, as well as many years leading the boards of Australian public companies and statutory organisations.

Throughout her career she has been amongst the first women to undertake leadership roles in both the commercial and public sectors in Australia.

Francoise Bourzat holds an MA in Somatic Psychology from New College of California (San Francisco, 1990). She was an adjunct faculty in the East West Psychology Program at the California Institute of Integral Studies from 2012 to 2016. Since 1987, Francoise has apprenticed with shamans and healers in the U.S. and Mexico. In the last 25 years, she has traveled with groups to Mexico, incorporating her counseling practice experience with her knowledge of expanded states of consciousness where she partners with Mazatec healers in Sacred Mushrooms ceremonies. She also leads workshops and contributes to conferences internationally. Her book, Consciousness Medicine is available everywhere books are sold.

John Burgos is widely known as a leader in the human potential field.

He is a teacher and speaker who thrives when collaborating with provocative spiritual leaders, bringing light to the shared power of the awakened collective consciousness.

Passionate about cultivating strong communities that are based on personal service and contribution, John created the Beyond The Ordinary Show, which was established as a platform that hosts educational topics that are hard to find in the mass media. More than a show, it quickly grew into an interactive community for those seeking ancient wisdom, the next generation of mystical teachings, spiritual awakening and soulful guidance, with a pragmatic and coherent delivery.

For 20 years Cathy Burke was the CEO for The Hunger Project Australia, and then Global Vice President, working to end hunger across South Asia and Africa. She was an integral member of a visionary team who developed leadership at scale in villages all over the world. Through this work, millions of the world’s poorest people stepped into their leadership, and were able to feed themselves and their families.

Now a speaker, mentor and leadership trainer, Cathy runs programs to help organisations develop the mindset and skills needed to address 21st Century challenges. Cathy empowers people’s innate capacity to address difficult circumstances and overcome them.

Winner of the Australian Davos leadership award, and 2014 AFR Women of Influence award, Cathy is the author of Unlikely Leaders: Lessons in Leadership from the Village Classroom.

Professor Jane Burns is a health strategist, advising the government, university and social enterprise sector. She is Chair of Open Arms, Chair of STREAT and Chair of the Centre for Mental Health at Swinburne University. She has over twenty years’ experience as a C-Suite Executive with high profile organisations, beyondblue: the national depression initiative and reachout.com and was the founder and CEO of the Young and Well Cooperative Research Centre raising over $100M in capital.

She is the Founder and Non-Executive Director of InnoWell and a Non-Executive Director with APPLI. She was a Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy, a VicHealth Fellow in Health Promotion and an NHMRC Fellow in Suicide Prevention. In recognition for her achievements in entrepreneurship she won the category of Social Enterprise for 2015’s Australian Financial Review and Westpac Group 100 Women of Influence, and was a Victorian Finalist in the 2017 Telstra Business Women’s Awards.

David Caldicott is an Irish Emergency Consultant, living and working in Canberra – he holds conjoint academic positions with the University of Canberra, and the Australian National University.

David is the co-recipient of an NH&MRC Partnership grant as part of the ‘Driving Change project’. He is currently the Clinical Lead at the Australian Drug Observatory of The ANU.

David has always been ‘disruptive’. He wrote and delivered Australia’s first medicinal cannabis course, conceived to teach clinicians the science behind the headlines. He also designed & negotiated Australia’s first sanctioned ‘pill testing’ trial in the ACT in 2018. David has an Irishman’s interest in influencing politics to effect evidence based policy, and is an expert on illicit drugs for the Australian Science Media Centre.

Robin Carhart-Harris moved to Imperial College London in 2008 after obtaining a PhD in Psychopharmacology from the University of Bristol and an MA in Psychoanalysis from Brunel University. At Imperial, he has run and overseen brain imaging studies involving LSD, psilocybin, MDMA and DMT, plus a clinical trial of psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression, and a current study comparing psilocybin with escitalopram for major depressive disorder. In 2019, he set-up the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial and he also an honorary position with the University of Oxford. Two of his most influential works include the ‘Entropic Brain Hypothesis’ and ‘REBUS and the anarchic brain’.

Dr Ted Cassidy is a psychiatrist and co-founder of Monarch Mental Health Group which provides innovative next step treatments for people suffering from Depression, PTSD and anxiety.

Monarch Mental Health is Australia’s first outpatient clinic offering psychedelic-assisted therapies and Australia’s largest provider of outpatient magnetic stimulation therapy (TMS),  as well as a range of other next step treatments including ketamine, portable direct current stimulation telepsychology and telepsychiatry. Ted is a Graduate of Mind Medicine Australia’s Certificate in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies (CPAT)™.

From 2004 to 2015 Dr Ted Cassidy was co-founder and Chief Psychiatrist of The Hills Clinic Hospital and medical centres which treated over 10,000 patients during Ted’s involvement.

Arthur Christopoulos is Professor of Analytical Pharmacology, Dean of the Faculty of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Director of the Neuromedicines Discovery Centre, Monash University, Parkville, Australia. Prior to his appointment as Dean, he was a Senior Principal Research Fellow of the NHMRC. His work focuses on novel paradigms of drug action at G protein-coupled receptors, the largest drug-target class for current medicines, and has been applied to fundamental and translational studies encompassing neurological and psychiatric disorders, cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes and chronic pain.

Professor Christopoulos has over 340 publications, including in leading journals such as Nature, Science and Cell. He has also been the recipient of multiple major national and international awards. Since 2014-present, Clarivate Analytics have named him a Highly Cited Researcher in Pharmacology and Toxicology, and in 2021 also named him a Highly Cited Researcher in Biology & Biochemistry. In 2017, he was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences and in 2021 was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science.

Bruce is a highly respected legal professional and consultant with more than 40 years’ experience in law working as a solicitor, barrister and strategic adviser.

In addition to his legal career Bruce served as a senior Ministerial adviser to the NSW State Government and as an Executive Director at both PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young in the National and State Advisory Practices

He has frequently advised on projects requiring wide strategic capability and a deep and practical understanding of Local, State and Commonwealth Government.

As a co-Founder and Chairman of Allygroup Bruce continues to work closely with the highest levels of Federal and State Governments on a range of high profile and sensitive legal management and procurement projects.

Bruce is actively involved in pro bono community work including roles as a Committee Member of the Byron Community Centre and as Chairman of the Masterman Montessori Children’s Trust which provides indigenous training services in North Queensland.

Wade Davis is a writer and photographer whose work has taken him from the Amazon to Tibet, Africa to Australia, Polynesia to the Arctic. Explorer-in-Residence at the National Geographic Society from 2000 to 2013, he is currently Professor of Anthropology and the BC Leadership Chair in Cultures and Ecosystems at Risk at the University of British Columbia.

Wade has authored 22 books, including One River, The Wayfinders and Into the Silence, he holds degrees in anthropology and biology and received his Ph.D. in ethnobotany, all from Harvard University. In 2016, he was made a Member of the Order of Canada. In 2018 he became an Honorary Citizen of Colombia.

In the era of mass extinction, medical anthropologist Carroll Dunham’s work relates to human entanglement with other species ( from microbes to yaks.). She has lived and traveled extensively amongst indigenous nomadic communities of the Himalayas, India, Tibet, China and Mongolia. A lifelong student of Buddhism, Tibetan medicine and Himalayan medicinal plants, she is committed to amplifying indigenous voices and stewardship of fragile ecosystems. Based in Nepal for 30 years, she is currently co-founder of ATW80Fabrics Foundation revitalizing vanishing textile traditions to reduce petroleum fueled fast fashion. A storyteller at heart, Carroll has authored five books and produced over a dozen documentaries for National Geographic, PBS, and BBC. As a Buddhist chaplain, she is passionate about resiliency and the human ability to thrive post disasters.

Wesley Enoch has written and directed iconic Indigenous productions THE 7 STAGES OF GRIEVING, BLACK MEDEA and THE STORY OF THE MIRACLES AT COOKIE’S TABLE. He has directed productions of THE SAPPHIRES, BLACK DIGGERS, I AM EORA, THE MAN FROM MUKINUPIN, YIBIYUNG, PARRAMATTA GIRLS, and BLACK COCKATOO. He was the Artistic Director of the Sydney Festival from 2017 to 2020 and was previously the Artistic Director at Kooemba Jdarra Indigenous Performing Arts and the Ilbijerri Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Theatre Co-operative. Wesley’s other residencies include Resident Director at Sydney Theatre Company; Associate Artistic Director at Belvoir Street Theatre; the 2002 Australia Council Cite Internationale des Arts Residency in Paris and the Australia Council Artistic Director for the Australian Delegation to the 2008 Festival of Pacific Arts. He was creative consultant, segment director and indigenous consultant for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games.

Dr. David Erritzoe is a psychiatrist and neuroscientist. He holds a Clinical Senior Lectureship (i.e. Assistant Professorship) in General Psychiatry in the Centres for Neuropsychopharmacology and Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London and CNWL Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust. Following training in neuroreceptor PET imaging at Columbia University in New York in 2002/03, he undertook a PhD at University Hospital Rigshospitalet in Copenhagen. Since moving to Imperial College in 2009 he has been conductingand overseeing clinical and neuroimaging trials (using PET, MRI, and EEG) into affective disorders and addiction. David is the Clinical Director of Imperial’s Centre for Psychedelic Research. Since early 2021 he has also headed up a new NHS-based research clinic at St Charles Hospital, the CIPPRes Clinic. He is topic lead in Psychiatry at Imperial College London’s Medical School, whilst also lecturing in MSc and BSc neuroscience programs. He has authored more than 110 peer-reviewed scientific papers and 4 book chapters.

James Fadiman B.A. (Harvard) M.A., Ph.D. (Stanford) began his  personal psychedelic research a few weeks before starting his graduate work at Stanford where he did his dissertation on the effectiveness of LSD-assisted therapy.  During the research lull of 40 years, he has held a variety of teaching (San Francisco State, Brandeis, and Stanford) consulting, training, counseling and editorial positions. He has taught in psychology departments, design engineering, and for three decades, at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology (now Sofia University) that he co-founded.

He has published textbooks, professional books, a self-help book, a novel, and a series of videos, Drugs: the children are choosing for National Public Television. His books have been published in 8 languages. He has been the subject of a one-hour documentary released by Page3 Films, featured in a National Geographic documentary and had three solo shows of his nature photography.

He had his own consulting firm and sat on two non-profit boards as well as having been the president of several small natural resource companies. He has been involved in researching psychedelic for spiritual, therapeutic and creative uses and is known for his pioneering work on microdosing . He has published The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide: Safe, Therapeutic, and Sacred Journeys, and more recently (with Jordan Gruber)  Your Symphony of Selves: Discover and Understand More of Who You Are. Released this year (also with Jordan Gruber)  is the comprehensive book, Microdosing for Health, Healing, and Enhanced Performance.

Bob started to work with psychedelics in 1967. He has been a therapist some 40 years. For over a decade  he has devoted himself full-time to Internal Family Systems Therapy (IFS). During that time, he has completed all levels of training offered. He also assisted Richard Schwartz, the creator of IFS, at many events and been on staff at twenty of the formal trainings. In 2019 Bob co-authored a book with Richard Schwartz entitled, Many Minds, One Self. He also leads  many workshops and classes of his own internationally. The major focuses of his work have been psychedelic assisted therapy, major trauma, addictions, and spirituality. Bob believes that IFS is ideally suited to medicine work and he devotes much of his time to training psychedelic therapy practitioners in IFS .

Amanda Feilding is the Founder and Executive Director of the Beckley Foundation, and is widely recognised as one of the driving forces behind the current psychedelic research renaissance. By establishing key research collaborations with some of the world’s most prestigious universities, she has propelled the field forward over the last 20 years, conducting several landmark studies, such as the world’s first LSD brain imaging study.

Since its inception, the Beckley Foundation has been at the forefront of the development of evidence-based drug policy. Through a series of pivotal international seminars at the House of Lords, over 50 much-cited reports and numerous meetings with thought-leaders, academics, policy-makers and the public, Amanda has ensured that the Beckley Foundation is a leader in the movement for drug policy reform. Through her work with the Beckley Foundation, Amanda is bridging the gap between science and policy, allowing them to complement and inform one another, ultimately harnessing our knowledge of the benefits of many prohibited substances to maximise human wellbeing.

Rabbi Tirzah Firestone, Ph.D., is an author, Jungian psychotherapist, a leader in the international Jewish Renewal Movement, and a renowned Jewish scholar and teacher. Widely known for her groundbreaking work on Kabbalah, depth psychology, and the re-integration of the feminine wisdom tradition within Judaism, Rabbi Tirzah lectures and teaches internationally about spiritual and ancient wisdom practices that are honed to assist us at this critical time in world history. Her latest work, Wounds into Wisdom: Healing Intergenerational Jewish Trauma (Monkfish, 2019) is the recipient of the 2020 Nautilus Book Award Gold in Psychology and the Jewish Women’s Caucus of the Association for Women in Psychology 2020 book award.

Paul Fitzgerald is Professor of Psychiatry at Monash University and Director of the Epworth Centre for Innovation in Mental Health based at Epworth Camberwell. He is a qualified psychiatrist, has a Masters of Psychological Medicine and research PhD. His main clinical and academic interest is in the development, evaluation and clinical translation of new therapies for mental health conditions. His research program has been mainly focussed on various forms of brain stimulation including transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), transcranial alternating current stimulation, magnetic seizure therapy and deep brain stimulation.

He has conducted over twenty clinical trials in depression, schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder, PTSD, autism and Alzheimer’s disease along with numerous experimental studies. He has established multiple clinical TMS services, is a founder and board member of TMS Clinics Australia, and established Australia’s first TMS clinical training program. He has had continual NHMRC grant support for almost 20 years.

Ian Freckelton is a Queen’s Counsel in full-time practice working from Castan Chambers in Melbourne. He is also a Judge of the Supreme Court of Nauru, a member of the Mental Health Tribunal of Victoria, the Victorian Bar Council, the Coronial Council of Victoria, and the Australian Advisory Council on Medicinal Cannabis. He is a Professorial Fellow of Law and Psychiatry at the University of Melbourne, an Adjunct Professor of Forensic Medicine at Monash University and an Adjunct Professor at Johns Hopkins University in the United States. He is an elected Fellow of The Australian Academy of Law, The Australian Academy of Social Sciences and the Australasian College of Legal Medicine. Ian is the Editor of the Journal of Law and Medicine, the Founding Editor of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law, the author and editor of more than 40 books on health law, evidence law, criminal law, and administrative law, and the author of more than 600 articles and chapters of books. He has addressed professional gatherings in more than 30 countries.

Paul Frijters is a Professor of Wellbeing Economics at the London School of Economics: from 2016-nov 2019 at the Center for Economic Performance, thereafter at the Department of Social Policy.

He completed his Masters in Econometrics at the University of Groningen, including a seven-month stay in Durban, South Africa before completing a PhD through the University of Amsterdam. He has also engaged in teaching and research at the University of Melbourne, the Australian National University, QUT, UQ, and now the LSE.

Professor Fritjers specializes in applied micro-econometrics, including labor, happiness, and health economics, though he has also worked on pure theoretical topics in macro and micro fields. His main area of interest is in analyzing how socio-economic variables affect the human life experience and the “unanswerable” economic mysteries in life.

Professor Frijters is a prominent research economist and has published over 150 papers in fields including unemployment policy, discrimination and economic development.

He was the Research Director of the Rumici Project, a project sponsored by the Australian Ministry of Foreign Aid (AusAid), and is also a co-editor of the journal, Economic Record. In 2009 he was voted Australia’s best young economist under 40 by the Australian Economic Society. He joined IZA as a Research Fellow in April 2010.

Karl Friston is a theoretical neuroscientist and authority on brain imaging. He invented statistical parametric mapping (SPM), voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and dynamic causal modelling (DCM). These contributions were motivated by schizophrenia research and theoretical studies of value-learning, formulated as the dysconnection hypothesis of schizophrenia. Mathematical contributions include variational Laplacian procedures and generalized filtering for hierarchical Bayesian model inversion.

Friston currently works on models of functional integration in the human brain and the principles that underlie neuronal interactions. His main contribution to theoretical neurobiology is a free-energy principle for action and perception (active inference). Friston received the first Young Investigators Award in Human Brain Mapping (1996) and was elected a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences (1999). In 2000 he was President of the international Organization of Human Brain Mapping. In 2003 he was awarded the Minerva Golden Brain Award and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2006. In 2008 he received a Medal, College de France and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of York in 2011.

He became of Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology in 2012, received the Weldon Memorial prize and Medal in 2013 for contributions to mathematical biology and was elected as a member of EMBO (excellence in the life sciences) in 2014 and the Academia Europaea in (2015). He was the 2016 recipient of the Charles Branch Award for unparalleled breakthroughs in Brain Research and the Glass Brain Award, a lifetime achievement award in the field of human brain mapping. He holds Honorary Doctorates from the University of Zurich and Radboud University.

Albert Garcia-Romeu, Ph.D. is a member of the Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences faculty at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a Guest Researcher at the National Institute on Drug Abuse Intramural Research Program. His research examines the effects of psychedelics in humans, with a focus on psilocybin as an aid in the treatment of addiction. He received his doctorate in Psychology in 2012 from the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology in Palo Alto, CA, where he studied self-transcendence and meditation, and their relationship to mental health. His current research interests include clinical applications of psychedelics, mindfulness, and altered states of consciousness and their underlying psychological mechanisms. He additionally studies real-world drug use patterns and impacts on public health, and the role of spirituality in mental health and addiction. He is a founding member of the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research and the International Society for Research on Psychedelics.

David is a freelance Medical Director & Rural Generalist with advanced emergency skills working remotely, Australia-wide. He arrived in 2013 for an executive director role in WA’s Country Health Service, working in parallel as a clinician.

His interests include medical leadership and healthcare delivery in challenging environments, the mental health of veterans and doctors, and pre-hospital emergency management.

He gained his medical degree with distinction from Edinburgh University in 1988, later earning higher qualifications with distinction in Family Medicine and Obstetrics & Gynaecology, and an MA in Theology & Ethics from Regent College, Vancouver.

David has enjoyed diverse roles in a global career: GP Principal in the Scottish Highlands; Diplomat and Medical Adviser (Asia) for the UK Foreign Office; Regional Medical Director in the Kimberley; hospital and family physician in the Outback. Whether leading teams, administrating systems or caring for patients, David aims to improve the health and wellbeing of communities with compassion and professionalism.

Dr Suzy Green is a Clinical and Coaching Psychologist (MAPS) and Founder and CEO of The Positivity Institute, a positively deviant organisation dedicated to the research and application of Positive Psychology for life, school and work. She is a leader in the complementary fields of Coaching Psychology and Positive Psychology having conducted a world-first study on evidence-based coaching as an Applied Positive Psychology. Suzy was the recipient of an International Positive Psychology Fellowship Award and has published in the Journal of Positive Psychology. She lectured on Applied Positive Psychology as a Senior Adjunct Lecturer in the Coaching Psychology Unit, University of Sydney for ten years and is an Honorary Vice President of the International Society for Coaching Psychology. Suzy also currently holds Honorary Academic positions at the Centre for Positive Psychology, University of Melbourne, the Black Dog Institute and she is an Affiliate of the Institute for Well-Being, Cambridge University. Suzy was the Stress-less Expert for Australian Women’s Health Magazine and the Positive Psychology Expert for Muse Magazine. Suzy is an official ambassador for the Starlight Children’s Foundation and she maintains a strong media profile appearing on television, radio and in print.

George Halasz is a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist and Adjunct Senior Lecturer at School of Psychology and Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Monash University, as well as in private psychiatry practice.

From 1992–2005 he was a member of the Editorial Board of the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry, and the Editorial Committee of Australasian Psychiatry (2005–current). He was consultant to chapters in Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual (PDM)–2 (edited by V. Lingiardi & N. McWilliams, Guilford Press, 2017).

His special areas of interests and publications in books and peer-reviewed journals include ADHD, Holocaust trauma and inter-generational trauma transmission, trauma informed care, child/adolescent psychotherapy and ethics, children of parents with mental illness (COPMI), and the interface between psychiatry and religion.

Over the last twenty years he has lectured on trauma related themes in the UK, Israel, Poland, Hong Kong, US, NZ, and Australia. He was a regular panelist on Melbourne Radio Station RRR’s “Radiotherapy” for close to twenty-five years.

Rachel Harris, PhD is a Psychologist with both a research and clinical background. She was in the 1968 Residential Program at Esalen Institute, Big Sur, CA and remained on the staff for a few years. During the decade she worked in academic research, Rachel received a New Investigator’s Award from the National Institutes of Health and published over forty scientific studies in peer-reviewed journals. Rachel was in private psychotherapy practice for thirty-five years specializing in people interested in psychospiritual development. Rachel is the author of Listening to Ayahuasca: New Hope for Depression, Addiction, PTSD, and Anxiety (New World Library, 2017) and Swimming in the Sacred: Wisdom from the Psychedelic Underground (New World Library, 2023).

David Heilpern was appointed as a Magistrate in 1998, and was at the time the youngest magistrate in Australia. He ‘retired’ in May 2020. He sat in the criminal, mining, family, industrial, coronial and children’s jurisdictions of the Local Court, and was the Senior Civil Magistrate for five years. During his time on the bench, David was the principal educator for new magistrates throughout Australia and the Pacific and made several important reported decisions on criminal, environmental and evidence law.

Prior to his appointment, David was a litigation lawyer on the North Coast where he co-founded the law school at Southern Cross University, rising to becoming the Acting Dean in 1996. He maintained a litigation practice throughout this time, representing a wide range of defendants including high profile clients North East Forrest Alliance and Nimbin Hemp. During this time David graduated with a Masters in Law and was pronounced the Alumni of the Decade for the University in 2005.

David has written four published books, three of which have now had multiple editions, dozens of refereed journal articles, and is a prize-winning short story writer and poet.

David has recently been appointed as a Professional Practice Professor and Adjunct Professor at the School of Law and Justice at Southern Cross University. He has returned to the practice of law and his writing is now focussed on drug law reform, aboriginal overrepresentation in the criminal justice system and environmental activism.

Dr. Gregg Henriques is Professor of Graduate Psychology at James Madison University in the Combined-Integrated Doctoral Program in Clinical and School Psychology. Dr. Henriques received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Vermont and did his post-doctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Henriques’ primary area of scholarly interest is in developing a “unified framework” for both the science and practice of psychology. He has authored the book, A New Unified Theory of Psychology and developed a popular blog on Psychology Today, Theory of Knowledge, where he has authored over 350 essays on psychology, philosophy, politics, and mental health. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association, has won numerous awards for teaching, scholarship, and service, and launched and leads the Theory of Knowledge academic society. He has expertise in theoretical psychology, unified approaches to psychotherapy, psychological well-being, personality functioning, depression, and suicidal behavior.

Tommy Huppert, Founder and CEO of Cannatrek Limited, is a start-up entrepreneur and medicinal cannabis health economist. Cannatrek is one of the first enterprises in Australia to secure all federal and state government licenses to import cannabis seeds, research, grow, process, manufacture, and distribute medicinal cannabis products. His mission is to not only place the cannabis plant front and centre in production excellence but to funnel resources for patient care solutions and deliver affordable medicine to those in need.

He has established the “Seed to Patient” business model combining cutting edge cultivation expertise and world-class manufacturing practices to deliver high quality products, with a clinical research focus on mental health. This strategy has been instrumental in Cannatrek’s Major Project Status, a Commonwealth Government’s recognition of the strategic significance of a project to Australia. He is a frequent speaker in various medicinal cannabis conferences in and outside Australia.

Matthew W. Johnson, Ph.D., is The Susan Hill Ward Endowed Professor of Psychedelics and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Working with psychedelics since 2004, he is one of the world’s most widely published experts on psychedelics. He has published over 150 scientific papers, including psychedelic safety guidelines (2008) that helped to resurrect human psychedelic research, the first research on psychedelic treatment of tobacco addiction (2014), and studies of psilocybin in cancer-related distress (2016) and depression (2020). His psilocybin review recommended Schedule IV upon potential medical approval (2018). Matt also conducts behavioral economic research on the psychology of drug use, addiction, and sexual risk. He is a past President of the Psychopharmacology and Substance Abuse Division of the American Psychological Association, and current President of the International Society for Research on Psychedelics. In 2021 Matt received as principal investigator the first grant awarded by the US government in 50 years for a treatment trial of a classic psychedelic (psilocybin for smoking cessation). He has been interviewed by Anderson Cooper on 60 Minutes, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, the BBC, CNN, Fox Business News, NPR, and in Michael Pollan’s book How to Change Your Mind.

Mark Joiner, now retired and living in the Byron Bay region of Australia, is a former business strategist and finance executive. He was for many years the global head of corporate strategy at the Boston Consulting Group, ultimately based in New York, before entering banking as a Chief Financial Officer, first with Citigroup and then with National Australia Bank, where he was Executive Director Finance.

Today, he holds directorships with a small number of financial institutions, while devoting his capacity to the sustainability challenges we face through a wide range of initiatives including education, impact investing and programs supporting community resilience.

Rabbi Jeffrey B. Kamins has served as rabbi at Emanuel Synagogue since his ordination in 1989 and became senior rabbi in 1999. He received his BA in English Literature from Stanford University and his JD from Boalt Hall School of Law, practicing law in Los Angeles briefly before beginning rabbinic studies.

After receiving his rabbinical ordination from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in the US, Rabbi Kamins arrived at Emanuel in 1989.

Rabbi Kamins is an active member of the Sydney Jewish community and is committed to principles of egalitarianism, inclusion and diversity within the synagogue and the broader community. He is rabbinic advisor to Emanuel School, the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies, and the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.

Rabbi Kamins is a member of the Council of Masorti Rabbis of Australia and the Council of Progressive Rabbis of Australia, Asia and New Zealand. He is an advocate for social justice, inclusion and the environment. He is a Director of Voiceless and one of the representatives for the Australian Religious Response to Climate Change. In 2016, Rabbi Kamins was given an OAM in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list.

As a journalist, Helen has been fortunate to have worked across Australia’s three commercial and two public broadcasters, including as an award-winning independent filmmaker.

In 2015 she directed and produced a film on medicinal cannabis acquired by Netflix, SBS Television, SBS On Demand, and multiple international educational platforms.

It was then Helen recognised the need to stay true to public interest and integrity journalism at a time when we were witnessing large-scale change.

Helen has also served a term as the Chair of the Victorian Multicultural Commission. Helen’s thought leadership includes social cohesion, creating good settlement practice, overcoming unconscious bias, designing more inclusive recruitment practices and bringing together media and community to inform and educate.

She has also held several board positions in public and social policy settings and continues to champion better outcomes for marginalised and minority communities.

Her work in leadership and change management is driven by her deep desire to see organisations embrace a values-driven, ethical culture, which is the foundation of a thriving, resilient workforce and community.

Anouk is the founder and lead consultant of AK Clinical Research, a niche Clinical Research Organisation based in Melbourne, Australia, providing specialised expertise in all aspects of clinical trial management and monitoring. She is supporting pharma, biotech, CRO as well as academic investigator-initiated projects.

Anouk has close to 20 years of International Pharmaceutical Clinical Trials Experience, including 15 years of Clinical Project leadership in Australia/New Zealand. She worked on a multitude of trials in Asia-Pacific and the Netherlands across a variety of therapeutic areas, including Respiratory, Neurology, Cardiovascular, Haematology, Endocrinology, Gastrointestinal, Oncology, and Nephrology. She has been a strong contributor in various products across the entire clinical trial life span from phase I until IV.

Heather Lee has expertise at the intersection of transformational travel, psychedelic wellness, and integrative mental health. As one of the nation’s first Certified Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapists, her work with women and psilocybin was spotlighted in Lisa Ling’s CBS special on the Psychedelic Renaissance. Heather has background in Mind/Body Medicine from the Harvard Mind/Body Medical Institute and served as the Director of Women’s Health Education at the University of Virginia Medical Center. She designs and delivers psilocybin retreats in Colorado and Portugal specializing in midlife, cancer, and end-of-life care. Heather consulting expertise has been sought by high-end clients like Four Seasons Hualalai, Golden Door Spa, and One & Only Maldives, guiding industries in safely integrating mystical mindfulness and psychedelic wellness experiences into their offerings

Dr Olivia Ly Lesslar is an Australian medical doctor with expertise in psychoneuroimmunology. She has completed postgraduate studies in skin cancer medicine, dermatology, and clinical nutrition management.

She is the co-founder of Legacy Sciences whose aims are to explore medical conditions through a non-conventional lens. She holds several positions with innovative medical practices and companies internationally, including Medical Director of Functional and Longevity Medicine at brain centre Cingulum Health (Aus), Chief Medical Officer at Atlus (Aus), Medical Director at mind-body medicine company Liber8 (USA), Medical Director of Veteran Peace (USA), and Science Director at Sens.ai neurotechnology (Can). Dr Olivia is affiliated with longevity clinics LifeSpan Medicine, LA, Wellgevity, UK, and Everest Health, Washington DC.

Her academic appointments: Adjunct Senior Lecturer with Griffith University’s National Centre for Neuroimmunology and Emerging Diseases, and with the Medicine International Council of the National University of Singapore. Dr Olivia has lectured at Bond University Aus, Oxford University UK, Berkeley University USA, and the National University of Singapore, and she did a TEDx talk in 2022. She is a Trustee of the British College of Functional Medicine, where she serves as Research Lead.

Dr Jennifer Loughman is a GP, having trained in medicine at University of Sydney and Biochemistry at the UNSW. She is a graduate of MMA’s first ever CPAT course, and provided advise in the science and health areas of the Prime Ministers department. She is cofounder of a start-up company in Canberra, bringing a new diagnostic into the health space.

She currently offers personalised, caring GP consultations in Canberra, having spent many years working around the country focused on Indigenous communities, regional communities plus less common gigs such as prisons and quarantine facilities, as well as running her own occupational health clinic.

Her serendipitous exploration into the therapy-assisted psychedelic space (via CPAT training with MMA) has opened up an exciting new field of medicine, as she finds this therapy compelling when compared to existing treatments and disease definitions. She will never look at mental health problems and solutions in the same way again and is looking toward helping general practitioners finding their role in this exciting, healing space.

At the time that Wayside called him into Ministry, Graham was a postie. He’d almost perfected riding a little motor bike when Wayside called him to be their next Minister. In his first life, Graham was a social worker in South Australia, specialising in the field of child protection. Graham trained for ministry from 1979 to 1982. After a few years in church ministry, Graham became a chaplain to Parramatta Prison and he ran a church welfare agency. Academically, after ordination, Graham pursued studies in philosophy achieving degrees from Catholic Theological Union and from the Catholic Institute of Sydney. A Masters honours in philosophy was halted when a near fatal motorcycle accident changed all of life’s priorities in 2001. Graham has been married to Robyn for 49 years and together they have two children and five grandchildren. Graham is the author of three books. Graham was named NSW Local Hero in the Australia Day awards of 2014 made a Member of the Order of Australia on the Queen’s Birthday 2015.

Paul has over 25 years’ experience across all phases of the life sciences sector. With a career-spanning veterinary practice, pharmaceutical development and manufacturing, biotechnology, diagnostics and finance, Paul has expertise in capital raising, business development, technology commercialisation, and sales and marketing globally.

He has founded life sciences start-ups in the biologics area and worked in investment banking focusing on the analysis and financing of technology companies. Paul has previously and currently serves as Chairman, Director and/or CEO of several VC funded, ASX, NASDAQ, CSE and TSX listed companies in the life sciences, security and material sciences. This has numerous public and private funding rounds, IPOs and RTOs. Paul serves on a number of NFP and government advisory roles.

Dr Sam Manger is an award-winning General Practitioner in clinical practice, Senior Lecturer and Academic Lead for the Master and Graduate Diploma in Lifestyle Medicine, James Cook University College of Medicine and Dentistry and GP Training, Ambassador for Equally Well Australia, President of the Australasian Society of Lifestyle Medicine (ASLM) and host of The GP Show podcast.

Gabor Maté (pronounced GAH-bor MAH-tay) is a retired physician who, after 20 years of family practice and palliative care experience, worked for over a decade in Vancouver’s Downtown East Side with patients challenged by drug addiction and mental illness. The bestselling author of five books published in nearly 40 languages, including the award-winning In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters With Addiction, Gabor is an internationally renowned speaker highly sought after for his expertise on addiction, trauma, childhood development, and the relationship of stress and illness. For his ground-breaking medical work and writing he has been awarded the Order of Canada, his country’s highest civilian distinction, and the Civic Merit Award from his hometown, Vancouver. His most recent book, The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness and Healing in a Toxic Culture is a New York Times and international bestseller.

David E. Nichols, PhD is an Adjunct Professor of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.  Previously he held the Robert C. and Charlotte P. Anderson Distinguished Chair in Pharmacology and was a Distinguished Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at the Purdue University College of Pharmacy.  He received his B.S. degree in chemistry from the University of Cincinnati in 1969, and the PhD in Medicinal Chemistry from the University of Iowa in 1973, following which he did postdoctoral work in pharmacology at the University of Iowa, College of Medicine.  In 2004 he was named the Irwin H. Page Lecturer by the International Society for Serotonin Research and in 2006 he received the first Provost’s Outstanding Graduate Mentor award from Purdue University.  He has published more than 300 scientific articles, most of which deal with the relationship between molecular structure and biological action.

Kylie has had a strong academic career in Chinese medicine, integrative medicine and since 2018 medicinal cannabis, previously holding senior leadership positions in the Australian university and private education sector. She is an experienced academic and clinical researcher. One of Australia’s leading medicinal cannabis educators, she led an observational study investigating the effectiveness/safety of MC in Australians with chronic pain, anxiety, PTSD and MS, and has published two books to date: O’Brien & Blair, Medicinal Cannabis and CBD in Mental Healthcare (Cham: Springer, 2021) and O’Brien and Sali, A Clinician’s Guide to Integrative Oncology: What You Should Be Talking About with Cancer Patients and Why (Cham: Springer, 2017). She is a member of the TEQSA Expert Panel and previous member of the TGA’s Advisory Committee for Complementary Medicines.

Having received his PhD in philosophy from Harvard, Thomas Pogge is Leitner Professor of Philosophy and International Affairs and founding Director of the Global Justice Program at Yale. Pogge is a member of the Norwegian Academy of Science as well as co-founder of Academics Stand Against Poverty (ASAP), an international network aiming to enhance the impact of scholars, teachers and students on global poverty, and of Incentives for Global Health, a team effort toward developing a complement to the pharmaceutical patent regime that would improve access to advanced medicines for the poor worldwide.

His publications include Designing in Ethics, co-edited, Cambridge 2017; Global Tax Fairness, co-edited, Oxford 2016; Politics as Usual, Polity 2010; World Poverty and Human Rights, 2nd edition, Polity 2008; Global Justice and Global Ethics, co-edited, Paragon House 2008; John Rawls: His Life and Theory of Justice, Oxford 2007; and Freedom from Poverty as a Human Right, edited, Oxford & UNESCO 2007.

Nigel Pollard has a health industry background with 14 years in “big pharma” and 18 years in natural medicines. In the 90’s he worked in the HQ of a German pharmaceutical company and gave marketing guidance to the development of Humira®, now the no.1 selling medicine globally (US$20bn annually).

In 2001 Pollard established Flordis Natural Medicines to market natural health products with specific clinical evidence. Now called Soho Flordis International it is the only global Australian natural health company, with sales in 55+ countries and an unrivalled record of investing in 12 clinical trials.

Having stepped aside as global CEO in 2019, Pollard is a passionate advocate of informed choice based on the best scientific evidence. He Chairs a New York NFP, the Natural Health Science Foundation, and has a strong conviction that the best evidence options should be available to help address the mental health crisis.

Stephen Proud is a psychiatrist in private practice in regional WA with 45 years’ experience in medicine and 25 years as a psychiatrist. He has 3 sons. He has worked as a GP in rural WA, Perth and rural Zululand South Africa. He has taught GPs and psychiatric registrars for many years in Perth. He has built and run two psychiatric hospitals, one in Perth and the other an innovative rural retreat where patients lived for a month to undergo extensive psychotherapy, meditation and community living.

He has a long interest in spirituality and psychotherapy, starting with psychedelics in the 1970s, going onto humanistic psychology in California, Vipassana, The Rajneesh Ashram in India and then experience with traditional healers and Sangomas in rural Zululand. He runs meditation and psychotherapy retreats and is Monash MAPS trained in MDMA assisted therapies. He is currently involved in an MDMA trial for PTSD in Perth.

Stephen extols cooperation and is open to all groups promoting safe and sensible Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies.

Sara Reed is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist and psychedelic research therapist at Imperial College London. Her prior research work includes participation as a study therapist for a Phase 2 MDMA clinical study of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) sponsored by the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). She additionally received training at Yale University for the Psilocybin-Induced Neuroplasticity in the Treatment of Major Depressive Disorder study and is listed as a contributor to the therapist training manual for this treatment. Sara has spent her early career examining ways culture informs how we diagnose and treat mental illness. As a mental health futurist, she reimagines what mental wellness can look like in this digital era. Sara lectures on topics fusing culturally sensitive practices within mental health care and advises organizations on anti-oppressive and inclusive practices.

Reid Robison, MD MBA, is a Psychiatrist, Researcher & Chief Medical Officer at Novamind. He has led over 100 clinical trials in neuropsychiatry and co-directed the molecular genetics laboratory at the University of Utah Department of Psychiatry. Reid is co-founder at Cedar Psychiatry, and serves as Medical Director of Center for Change, a top Eating Disorder treatment program. He was the coordinating investigator for the MAPS MDMA-assisted Psychotherapy study of Eating Disorders. He was one of the first clinicians to use Ketamine. off label for depression in Utah and obtained his first grant to study Ketamine in 2011. He also led the Utah site for the pivotal IV Ketamine. study for treatment-resistant depression by Janssen, leading up to the company’s recent FDA-approval of Spravato (esketamine) via breakthrough therapy designation in 2019. Reid supervises & trains the Ketamine-assisted psychotherapy practitioners at Cedar Psychiatry’s clinics across Utah, and to date has guided thousands of Ketamine therapy journeys and, and hundreds of Spravato dosing sessions. As a social entrepreneur, Reid has built and sold a number of purpose-driven companies including Tute Genomics, a venture-backed personalized medicine startup that was acquired in 2016. Reid is adjunct faculty at the University of Utah, Brigham Young University, and Utah Valley University, has served on numerous non-profit boards. He founded the Polizzi Free Clinic, to bring mental health to Utah’s uninsured, and most recently co-founded SCPTR, a psychedelic therapy & research non-profit. He currently volunteers as medical support and a psychedelic therapist at Ayahuasca retreats abroad, and often provides medical safety consultations to shamans, therapists and researchers working in psychedelic medicine. Reid continues to share his vision for personalized medicine whenever he gets the chance as you can see in his TEDx talk entitled “The Genome Revolution Begins with You.”

Jeffrey Rosenfeld AC, OBE, is Senior neurosurgeon at the Alfred Hospital; Emeritus Professor of Surgery, Monash University; Adjunct Professor, Surgery at the F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine, Uniformed Services University of The Health Sciences (USUHS), Bethesda, MD, USA; Adjunct Professor of Surgery, Chinese University of Hong Kong; and Honorary Professor, Department of Surgery, University of Papua New Guinea. He was the Foundation Director, Monash Institute of Medical Engineering. His main research interests are traumatic brain injury and bionic vision. He has had a distinguished career in the Australian Defence Force and is a Major General (Ret’d) and a former Surgeon-General. He has undertaken eight operational deployments to Rwanda, Bougainville, East Timor, Solomon Islands and Iraq. Professor Rosenfeld is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences, a Fellow of the Australian Academy Technological Sciences and Engineering, and is an International Fellow of the American Association of Neurological Surgeons and the American College of Surgeons.

Dr. Arne Rubinstein is an internationally recognised expert on Rites of Passage. His trainings and programs have been attended by over 200,000 people in more than 20 countries around the world and are now a part of over 50 schools around Australia.

Dr Arne is a medical doctor and specialised first in Family Medicine and then spent 15 years in Emergency Medicine until he moved full time creating Rites of Passage globally.

He is the author of the best-seller The Making of Men and has won multiple awards for his work including being nominated in 2008 for Australian of the Year for his groundbreaking work.

He has worked in Europe, The USA, Bhutan, Israel, Indonesia and supported the re-introduction of Rites of Passage for the Butchulla Aboriginal mob in Queensland. He is passionate about Rites of Passage becoming mainstream once again. Dr Arne is the proud father of two wonderful young men and a mentor to many others.

James Rucker is a Consultant Psychiatrist and a Senior Clinical Lecturer in mood disorders and psychopharmacology at the Centre for Affective Disorders at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King’s College London (UK). James completed his medical degree at University College London (UK) in 2003 before training in psychiatry at the Maudsley, Bethlem and Springfield Hospitals in South London. He completed his PhD in the molecular biology of mood disorders at King’s College London in 2012.

He currently holds a 5 year Clinician Scientist Fellowship awarded by the National Institute for Health Research to investigate psilocybin as a treatment for major depressive disorder resistant to standard treatments. He leads the Psychedelic Trials Group, which is currently delivering three gold standard clinical trials using psilocybin in healthy volunteers and patients with resistant depression.

Mark has mostly worked in consultation liaison psychiatry believing it was at the mind-body interface until a belated realisation enabled the appreciation that it was more about embodiment and attention (“I attend, therefore I am”). This led to an exploration of methods to look beyond and step past the hegemony and constraint of the discursive mind and its constructed ‘self’ with psychedelics an obvious facilitatory method. This sits neatly with an interest in phenomenology, brain plasticity, neuroscience, imaging and neuromodulatory methods, all in the service of evolving awareness of awareness, subjectivity and ‘ways of being in the body and the world’, to foster the manifest expression and behaving of ‘goodness’.

More recently Mark has worked predominately using a personalised medicine approach incorporating various modalities of neuromodulation. Sleep problems have been identified as a key factor to address in improving outcomes in all patient groups including to enhance response to the range of things that activate brain plasticity in the service of enabling new learning including behaviour change and ways of being. This approach encourages a multiple levels of intervention approach i.e., neuromodulation of whatever method is best not considered a stand alone intervention, but best applied simultaneously with other interventions to enhance the possibility/opportunity for new learning. The use of psychedelics requires this same systems approach to therapeutics.

Stuart Saker is a general adult psychiatrist working in the Lake Macquarie area near Newcastle, New South Wales. He did medicine at Sydney University and did Psychiatry training in Australia and the United Kingdom. He has been an Army Medical Officer and deployed 5 times. He has many veteran and first responders patients. He did MAPS training in MDMA assisted psychotherapy in Israel in 2008 and is one of the first graduates of Mind Medicine Australia’s Certificate in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies™.

He is former Head of Graduate School of Integrative Medicine, Swinburne University and the University of Melbourne Dept of Surgery, Heidelberg Hospital. Often referred to as the ‘Founding Father’ of Integrative Medicine, Prof Sali has pioneered leading research and education in the field of Integrative Medicine, as well as being a specialist in the clinical treatment of cancer and chronic disease. His integrative medicine books include: Co-authored, 2011 – ‘A guide to Evidence-Based Integrative and Complementary Medicine’ – Elsevier Australia, and 2017 ‘A Clinician’s Guide to Integrative Oncology’, Springer USA. In 2016 a book about his life was published entitled ‘Visionary Man, Visionary Medicine’. In 2016 he received an Order of Australia for “significant service to integrative medicine as an educator, clinician and researcher, and to professional education.”

Dr Oscar Serrallach is a Medical Doctor with a special interest in Post-Natal Wellbeing. After completing his Fellowship in General Practice and Family Medicine (Board Certification), in 2009, he has dedicated himself to the study of maternal wellbeing.

By combining the growing research on maternal neurobiology with the principles of Bio-Psycho-Social medicine Dr Serrallach has created a maternal medical framework with specific postpartum protocols that have helped  suppot many hundreds of mothers back to wellness.

Dr Serrallach coined the term “Post-Natal Depletion” to acknowledge and describe the many mothers suffering with a post natal neuroinflammatory disorder that could not be classified as having a perinatal mood disorder.

He also coined the term  “Matriatrics ” to highlight the growing research and the need that mothers could and should have their own dedicated field of medicine.

He founded the Mother Care Project in 2022 to provide information , inspiration and education to both mothers and mother care workers.

He currently lives near Byron Bay, Australia with his partner and their three children. The Post-Natal Depletion Cure is his first book.

Janine Shepherd is an internationally renowned speaker and author. She is a former champion skier whose inspiring TEDx talk, “A Broken Body Isn’t a Broken Person,” is a favourite on the TED platform and has been viewed by millions worldwide.

After a bike accident ended her Olympic dreams, Janine faced a daunting recovery and an uncertain future. While sitting in her wheelchair, she looked to the sky and saw an aeroplane flying overhead and thought, ‘If I can’t walk, then maybe I can fly!’ With a permanent disability, she began her flying lessons and went on to become a commercial pilot and aerobatics flight instructor. She completed her university degree in sports science and authored six best-selling books. Told she would never have children; she is a mum to three kids working in stem fields.

Janine’s desire to understand and make sense of her recovery led her to many healing modalities: physical, emotional, spiritual, and evidence-based. She learned meditation from Deepak Chopra, studied Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBST) and trained in Acceptance and Commitment therapy. (ACT). She became an accredited counsellor and positive psychology/resilience coach and wrote a resilience program based on positive psychology interventions, which became the basis of her current PhD.

Janine is a proud disabled woman and advocate who is committed to creating a more equitable and inclusive world for us all.

Dr. Ronald D. Siegel is Assistant Professor of Psychology, at Harvard Medical School and serves on the Board of Directors and faculty of the Institute for Meditation and Psychotherapy. He is the author or editor of many books, including The Extraordinary Gift of Being Ordinary: Finding Happiness Right Where You Are; The Mindfulness Solution: Everyday Practices for Everyday Problems, and Sitting Together: Essential Skills for Mindfulness-Based Psychotherapy. He is also a regular contributor to other professional publications, and is co-director of the annual Harvard Medical School Conferences on Meditation and Psychotherapy as well as Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy. His exploration of psychedelic medicine began early in life and led him to become a long-time student of mindfulness meditation. He teaches internationally about the application of mindfulness practice in psychotherapy and other fields and the relationship between mindfulness practice and psychedelic medicine, while maintaining a private clinical practice in Lincoln, Massachusetts.

Licia Sky is a somatic educator, artist, singer-songwriter, and bodyworker who works with traumatized individuals and trains mental health professionals to use mindful meditation in movement, theater exercises, writing, and voice as tools for attunement, healing, and connection. She is a regular instructor in trauma healing workshops at Cape Cod Institute, Kripalu, and Esalen. For the past decade, she has been teaching expanded awareness in workshops to clinicians and laypeople around the world.

Patrycja Slawuta is an Australia-based, NYC-educated and Poland-born behavioural scientist, successful entrepreneur, and life-long learner.

After spending 10+ years in academia, Patrycja founded SelfHackathon, a NYC-based global boutique behavioural consultancy of scientists that applies evidence-based research to help organizations and enterprises navigate the complexities of human nature in the face of disruption, change and uncertainty.

After being chosen specifically by the Australian Government to migrate to Australia in March 2020 as a part of its Global Talent Program, Patrycja founded Unlab, a WA-based company whose mission is to take behavioural science out of the laboratory and into life through in-depth research initiatives, immersive learning programs and evidence-based consultations.

Patrycja believes the human mind is the world’s most untapped natural resource. As such, her mission is to give people and organizations clear frameworks and practical tools to meaningfully and efficiently mine their own minds in order to find purpose, clarity and alignment. In her free time she runs marathons (28 so far), reads (audiobooks) and meditates. In that particular order.

Dr James Stewart is one of Australia’s leading voices and specialists for Medicinal Cannabis. He was awarded Doctor of the Year and Peoples Choice Award at the National Cannabis Industry Awards 2021. He is a true believer and advocate for plant-based medicines. He has been featured on many media outlets including The Project, Nova Radio, 3AW and 2GB. He has also recently completed the Certificate in Psychedelic Assisted Therapy (CPAT)™ through Mind Medicine Institute.

Prior to becoming a doctor Dr James was DJ playing at some of the biggest clubs and festivals in Australia and abroad. He believes music is a critical part of life.

Margaret Somerville is Professor of Bioethics at the University of Notre Dame Australia, and, at McGill University, Montreal, Emerita Samuel Gale Professor of Law, Emerita Professor in the Faculty of Medicine and Emerita Founding Director of the Centre for Medicine, Ethics and Law.

Professor Somerville graduated in Pharmacy (University of Adelaide, 1963), Law (First class honours and University Medal, University of Sydney, 1973), and Doctor of Civil Law degree (McGill University, Montreal, 1978).

She has received eight honorary doctorates, was the first recipient of the UNESCO Avicenna Prize for Ethics in Science awarded by an international jury, has an extensive national and international publishing and speaking record and is a frequent commentator in all forms of media.  Her 2006 CBC Massey Lectures were published as The Ethical Imagination: Journeys of the Human Spirit and her most recent book is Bird on an Ethics Wire: Battles about Values in the Culture War s (MQUP 2015).

Dr. Jack Springer is an emergency physician and a fellow of both American and Austral-Asian colleges.

He holds two post-graduate degrees in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene and has training in Undersea Medicine, Infectious Diseases, Traditional Chinese Medicine, International Emergency Medicine,  and Epidemiology. His fascination with medicine and healing traditions has taken him to all continents save Antarctica.

Recently, and much due to Jack’s own lifelong struggles, he has shifted his focus to the understanding of “the devilish duo” of anxiety and depression. He has studied attachment theory and treatment with expert Daniel Brown,Ph.D, and clinical hypnosis with Michael Yapko, Ph.D, a leader in the field.

This work has greatly influenced his personal and professional perspective which is evident in his upcoming book: ‘Smiling Faces Tell Lies’. Therein he presents a sharp dissection of the cause and function of the symptoms of anxiety and depression from a deeply personal viewpoint, in the context of a cohesive, holistic “kaleidoscopic” theory.

Jack is a daydreamer, philosopher, writer, actor, public speaker, distance ocean swimmer, SCUBA instructor and drummer. He maintains a meditation practice as a student of Daniel Brown,Ph.D

His favourite band is Pink Floyd.

Jacks most rewarding time is spent snuggling with his twin daughters Sienna and Sedona, and yogi wife Yasmin.

Attila Szabo is a Research Fellow at the Norwegian Centre for Mental Disorders Research (NORMENT), University of Oslo, Norway. He holds two Master’s degrees in Biochemistry (MSc) and in Philosophy (MA). He received his first PhD degree in medicine with a focus on immunology, and a second PhD in philosophy specializing in phenomenology and the philosophy of consciousness. His current research foci include immune-brain interactions in severe mental disorders, as well as the regulatory potential of serotonergic tryptamines (e.g. DMT, psilocybin, etc.) on human immune, glial, and neuronal cell functions under various conditions.

Besides academia, Attila is a founding member of the Norwegian Association for Psychedelic Science, a non-profit organization that aims to educate the general public as well as researchers, and mental health practitioners in Norway about psychedelics. He is also Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Psychedelic Studies, and Associate Editor at Frontiers in Immunology, and at Frontiers in Psychiatry.

Imam Mohammad Tawhidi is an Islamic scholar, educator, best-selling author, speaker, and one of the leading voices in the global movement of social Islamic reform. He has dedicated his life to ideologically tackling the spread of Islamic extremism and has delivered speeches at conferences, parliaments, mosques, Islamic centers, churches, synagogues, temples and universities across the Middle East, Europe, America, Asia, and Australia. He is licensed by Islamic leaders of the highest order to lead and represent the Muslim community. Tawhidi enjoys healthy international diplomatic relationships with numerous governments and provides regular advice on counter-terrorism. Imam Tawhidi was publicly ordained as an Islamic authority in the Holy City of Qum, Iran, by the Senior Grand Ayatollah Shirazi in 2010. He was recognized by the Senate of Canada on Wednesday June 13th of 2018, and is fluent in Arabic, English and Farsi.

Dr Tiller qualified in medicine and science in New Zealand, holds a Doctorate of Medicine with his thesis on anxiety disorders from The University of Melbourne, is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, a Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, and is trained in child and adolescent psychiatry. He is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.

His primary research interests have been in the assessment and treatment of depressive and bipolar disorders, anxiety disorders including PTSD and psychoses. He is a recognized expert in ECT and psychopharmacology and has more than 300 scientific publications. He has an interest in governance, especially of not for profits – helping them being more effective in post graduate education and clinical services.

Dr. Trees, a Goori (Dhanggati) woman and GP, is a dedicated healthcare professional, often serving as the sole doctor in remote areas of Western Australia and the Northern Territory, particularly within Aboriginal communities and islands. With over thirty years of experience, she teaches locally and internationally, specialising in Indigenous health and cultures, emphasizing the importance of Indigenous knowledge for humanity’s future. Dr. Trees initially trained in Traditional Chinese Medicine as an acupuncturist before pursuing science. An advocate for LGBTQ+ rights at the United Nations, she played a role in founding organisations like the Australian Indigenous Doctors Association (AIDA). As the first Indigenous Honours graduate from the University of Sydney School of Medicine, Dr. Trees continues to champion Indigenous values within educational systems. Beyond her medical career, she excels as an award-winning novelist in Magical Realism and Speculative Fiction.

Gita Vaid MD is a board certified psychiatrist and psychoanalyst a co-founder of the Center for Natural Intelligence, a multidisciplinary laboratory dedicated to psychedelic psychotherapy innovation and clinical practice. A lead instructor at The Ketamine Training Center and member of the Mount Sinai Psychedelic Psychotherapy Research and Trauma Center, she is a Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic (MAPS)  – trained psychedelic psychotherapist practicing ketamine assisted psychotherapy in New York City. Dr Vaid completed her psychiatry residency training at NYU Medical Center and psychoanalytic training at the Psychoanalytic Association of New York. She trained as a Fellow in clinical psychopharmacology and neurophysiology at New York Medical College and completed a research fellowship at NYU Medical Center. Dr Vaid serves as the Director of Psychedelic Awareness at The Chopra Foundation.

Bessel van der Kolk MD, Professor of Psychiatry, Boston University School of Medicine and President, Trauma Research Foundation, has spent his career studying how children and adults adapt to traumatic experiences, and have tried to translate emerging findings from pharmacology, neuroscience and attachment research to develop and study potentially effective treatments for traumatic stress in children and adults.

In 1984 he set up one of the first clinical/research centers in the US dedicated to study and treatment of traumatic stress in civilian populations, which has trained numerous researchers and clinicians specializing in the study and treatment of traumatic stress, and which has been continually funded to research the impact of traumatic stress and effective treatment interventions. He conducted the first studies on the effects of SSRIs on PTSD; he was a member of the first neuroimaging team to investigate how trauma changes brain processes, and he did the first research linking BPD and deliberate self-injury to trauma and neglect in early childhood.

Much of his research has focused on how trauma has a different impact at different stages of development, and that disruptions in care-giving systems have additional deleterious effects that need to be addressed for effective intervention. In order to promote a deeper understanding of the impact of childhood trauma and to foster the development and execution of effective treatment interventions he initiated the process that led to the establishment of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network (NCTSN), a Congressionally mandated initiative that now funds approximately 150 centers specializing in developing effective treatment interventions, and implementing them in a wide array of settings, from juvenile detention centers to tribal agencies, nationwide. He has focused on studying treatments that stabilize physiology, increase executive functioning and help traumatized individuals to feel fully alert to the present. This has included an NIMH funded study on EMDR and NCCAM funded study of yoga, and, in recent years, the study of neurofeedback to investigate whether attentional and perceptual systems (and the neural tracks responsible for them) can be altered by changing EEG patterns.

Currently he is Principal Investigator of the Boston arm of the MAPS 1 and 2 studies on the effects of MDMA on people with chronic PTSD. His seminal book The Body keeps the Score , has been on the New York Times best seller list for over 230 weeks, and has been translated into 42 different languages.

Medical anthropologist Alberto Villoldo Ph.D. has studied the shamanic healing practices of the Amazon and Andes for more than 25 years. In 1984 he founded the Four Winds Society, which offers extensive education in the philosophy and practice of energy medicine. In his mid-20s Villoldo was the youngest clinical professor at San Francisco State University, where he founded and directed the Biological Self-Regulation Lab to investigate how visualization, energy and psychosomatic medicine change the chemistry of the brain. He soon realized that the microscope was the wrong instrument to answer the questions he was asking. Other scientists were already studying the hardware, Villoldo wanted to learn to reprogram the system.

Over the course of two decades with the shamans in the jungles and high mountains of the Andes, Alberto Villoldo discovered a set of sacred technologies that transform the body, heal the soul, and can change the way we live and die.

He learned that we are more than flesh and bone – we are absolutely fashioned of Spirit and light, surrounded by a Luminous Energy Field whose source is located in infinity. This unending Luminous Energy Field exists in every cell of our bodies, acting as a matrix that maintains our physical and spiritual health and vibrancy … it is up to us to recognize and work with this gift to change the very nature of our living.

Dr. Alberto Villoldo has written numerous international best-selling books including One Spirit Medicine.

Dr. Ross Walker is an eminent practising cardiologist with a passion for people and health with 40 years’ experience as a clinician. For the past 20 years he has been focusing on preventative cardiology & is one of Australia’s leading preventative health experts.

Considered one of the world’s best keynote speakers and life coaches, he is the author of seven best-selling books & a regular health presenter in the Australian Media. Dr Ross also appears weekly on the national Macquarie Radio network & the Super Radio network. He had his own national radio show, Healthy Living for 8 years on radio 2UE. Healthy Living recommenced nationally on the Nine Radio network on March 29th 2020. Dr Walker broadcasts on 2GB, 3AW, 4BC, 6PR,2CC & 5AA.

Dr Walker runs the Sydney Heart Health Clinic in Lindfield on Sydney’s North Shore, a clinic that focuses on all aspects of non-invasive & preventative cardiology.

Dr Walker is also the Chief Medical Officer for the VTN group. He is also the Chief Cardiologist for the Miskawaan Health Group, an integrative health service in South East Asia. Dr Walker is the President of the Gut Foundation of Australia. Dr Walker is a non-executive director for MGC Pharmaceuticals, a company researching, developing & marketing medical cannabis around the world. Dr Walker is the patron for Heart Support Australia.

Jeremy Weate has a PhD in philosophy from the University of Warwick. He has over 17 years strategic advisory experience, focused on minister-level guidance on the mining sector across over 50 projects in over 30 countries in Europe, Africa, Central Asia and the South Pacific. Jeremy also has a decade-long interest in the medicalization of ibogaine. In 2018, he helped set up Tabula Rasa Retreat in Portugal, now of the leading ibogaine treatment facilities globally. He has organised ibogaine conferences in Vienna, Porto and London.

He was CEO of the Vancouver-based Universal Ibogaine, which IPOed on the Toronto Stock Exchange later this year. Universal Ibogaine will take ibogaine through clinical trials in Canada, with a view to multi-country phase 3 trials in Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Israel. The company will launch holistically minded psychedelic-assisted therapies clinics in North America and subsequently globally this decade under the ClearSky Recovery brand.

Michael James Winkelman, Ph.D. (University of California-Irvine), M.P.H. (University of Arizona) is retired from the School of Human Evolution and Social Change at Arizona State University. Winkelman engages cross-cultural and interdisciplinary research on shamanism and its biological bases in Shamans, Priests and Witches (1992) and Shamanism: A Biopsychosocial Paradigm of Consciousness and Healing (2010). He addressed the therapeutic applications of psychedelics in his co-edited Psychedelic Medicine (2007) and Advances in Psychedelic Medicine (2019).

Winkelman examined the intersection of psychedelics and the evolutionary origins of religion in his co-authored Supernatural as Natural (2008) and a Journal of Psychedelic Studies Special Issue on Psychedelics in History and World Religion (2019). He has also explored the applications of shamanism and psychedelics to treatment of addiction (International Journal of Drug Policy 12:337-351; Current Drug Abuse Reviews, 7:101-116). He currently lives in central Brazil. His website is www.michaelwinkelman.com

Alex Wodak, a physician, is a Director of Australia 21 and is the President of the Australian Drug Law Reform Foundation. He was Director of the Alcohol and Drug Service, St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney, from 1982 until he retired in 2012. Dr Wodak was the Foundation President of the International Harm Reduction Association (1996-2004) and helped to establish the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (1987), the NSW Users AIDS Association (1989), and the Australian Society of HIV Medicine (1989).

Rabbi Dr Laibl Wolf is Dean and Founder of the Spiritgrow Wellness Centre, Melbourne, Australia. A graduate of Law and Psychology, he is a best-selling author and international acclaimed lecturer drawing on positive psychology side by side with ancient spiritual wisdoms.

An unusual blend of Hassidic Rabbi, therapist and teacher, he has presented at forums such as the Fortune 500 Convention, the International Psychology Conference, and the Gawler International Wellness Conventions. He was senior lecturer in Jewish spirituality at University of Melbourne and was personally consulted by the Dalai Lama. He lists Lord Rabbi Dr. Sir Jonathan Sacks as a good friend and colleague. His mentor was the revered Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson (the Lubavitcher Rebbe obm).

Author of the best-selling, Practical Kabbalah (Random House), he has lectured in over 500 cities across the globe over 30 years on meditation, mindfulness and personal growth. The son of Polish holocaust survivors, he received his rabbinic ordination from the Chief Rabbi of Israel.

Allan Young is Chair of Mood Disorders and Director of the Centre for Affective Disorders in the Department of Psychological Medicine in the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London, where he is also Head of School for Academic Psychiatry. The School of Academic Psychiatry is second in the world rankings for Psychiatry.  He is the clinical academic lead in the Psychological Medicine Clinical Academic Group in the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, and also Consultant Psychiatrist and Head of the Affective Disorders Service.

Professor Young’s research interests focus on the cause and treatments for severe psychiatric illnesses, particularly mood disorders. He has over 700 peer-reviewed publications, including several books about psychopharmacology and affective disorders.  He is editor of the Journal of Psychopharmacology and deputy editor of the British Journal of Psychiatry (Open).  His H-index is 126 with over 88000 citations of his papers.  Professor Young is a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher: ranking in the top 1% by citations for field and publication year in the Web of Science™ citation index.  Professor Young’s current grant funding exceeds £40 million.  Past President of the International Society for Affective Disorders and the British Association of Psychopharmacology and Inaugural Chair of the RCPsych Special Committee for Psychopharmacology. He is a trustee of the Drug Safety Research Unit (DSRU), which is internationally respected for its work in Pharmacovigilance, Pharmacoepidemiology, Risk Management and Training Services.