Who We Are

Andrea Venezia brings 25 years of equity-focused research and policy experience to her role as executive director. She plans to integrate equity-driven leadership across BCSP’s work, fostering inclusive partnerships and strengthening community connections. Venezia aims to bridge the gap between psychedelic science and society, ensuring the center’s research has meaningful real-world impact.

Michael Silver is a professor in the School of Optometry and the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute at UC Berkeley, and is the director of BCSP. Research in the Silver laboratory focuses on the brain mechanisms of visual perception, attention, and learning. His team seeks to better understand how the brain actively constructs representations of the visual environment by using a combination of perceptual, brain imaging, computational modeling, and pharmacological techniques. Although Michael has been conducting pharmacological studies in humans for fifteen years, the initial studies as part of BCSP will be the first in his lab to involve psychedelic compounds. Following decades of suppression of research on the effects of psychedelic drugs in human subjects, he is thrilled to have the opportunity to contribute to the renaissance of psychedelic research and to conduct experiments that shine light on the mysteries of the mind and brain.

David Presti has taught neurobiology and psychology at UC Berkeley for over thirty years, with the history, psychological value, and known neurobiology of psychedelics as important parts of his instructional curriculum. He has also worked to shift educational dialogue and public policy related to psychedelics. For more than a decade he worked in the clinical treatment of addiction and post-traumatic stress disorder at the San Francisco VA Medical Center. He also teaches neuroscience and converses about science with Buddhist monastics in India, Bhutan, and Nepal. David sees BCSP as poised to contribute innovative investigations related to psychedelics as probes of the nature of mind and to explore the nexus between physical science and spirituality.

Jane C. Hu is head writer of The Microdose, a newsletter about the science, business, culture and public policy surrounding psychedelics. She is an award-winning journalist whose work has been featured in publications like Undark Magazine, Slate, The Guardian, High Country News, WIRED, The Washington Post, Smithsonian, National Geographic, The Atlantic, and Science. Before becoming a journalist, she earned a PhD in psychology from UC Berkeley.

Malia Wollan is editor in chief of journalism projects at BCSP and director of the UC Berkeley-11th Hour Food and Farming Journalism Fellowship at UC Berkeley’s Graduate School of Journalism. She is a contributing writer at The New York Times Magazine. Her work has also appeared in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, National Public Radio, New York Magazine, Fast Company,The Associated Press,PBS’s Frontline/World, and elsewhere.

For more than thirty years, Michael Pollan has been writing books and articles about the places where the human and natural worlds intersect: on our plates, in our farms and gardens, and in our minds. He is the John S. and James L. Knight Professor of Journalism at UC Berkeley and the author of eight books, including How to Change Your Mind, his 2018 account of the renaissance of scientific research into psychedelics. In July 2022, Netflix released a docuseries based on How to Change Your Mind, exploring the history and uses of substances including LSD, psilocybin, MDMA and mescaline. Michael leads BCSP’s public-education program, the first effort from a public university to foster a well-informed, nuanced understanding of psychedelics.

Ava Axelrod is a clinical research coordinator for UC Berkeley where she oversees study operations, participant recruitment, and data collection for ongoing clinical trials. With a background in neuroscience and philosophy, and experience coordinating controlled substance clinical trials, Ava is passionate about interdisciplinary approaches to understanding consciousness, mental health, and the therapeutic potential of altered states. She is especially committed to research that is both equitable and accessible, aiming to expand who is represented in and benefits from psychedelic science. Ava is excited to contribute to the advancement of the field and is particularly drawn to BCSP’s multifaceted and collaborative approach.

Brian Anderson MD, MSc, is an assistant clinical professor and psychiatrist at UCSF/Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. He has conducted observational and clinical research on the effects of psychedelics and other drugs for over a decade, including a 2018 open-label pilot study of psilocybin-assisted group therapy for demoralization in older men who are long-term AIDS survivors. His research interests focus on the development of novel treatments for psychological distress in patients with serious medical illness. He is a clinical investigator at BCSP and is excited about the opportunity for interdisciplinary research that considers theological and religious scholarship in interpreting psychedelic experiences.

Catriona Miller is a clinical program project manager at both UCSF and UC Berkeley, with several years’ experience conducting neuroscience research and managing and coordinating neuroscience groups. She has spent the last few years working primarily on clinical trials investigating the therapeutic potential of psychedelic compounds. Her experience is in translational neuroscience research, with an interest in investigating the neural circuitry underlying psychiatric illnesses, such as addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression. At BCSP, she helps with study coordination, site and infrastructure set-up, regulatory and compliance oversight, study design and implementation, and maintaining protocol adherence.

Dacher Keltner is a professor of psychology at UC Berkeley and faculty director of the Greater Good Science Center. His research focuses on the biological and evolutionary origins of compassion, awe, love, beauty, and humility, as well as power, social class, and inequality. In his role at BCSP, he is interested in what the science of psychedelics can reveal about how mystical states change moral emotions while interrogating the underlying neurophysiology of these transformations and their benefits for health and well-being. Dacher is the author of several hundred scientific articles and several books; has won many research, teaching, and service awards; and has consulted for businesses and nonprofits.

David Egert, PhD, is a researcher in Michael Silver’s laboratory at UC Berkeley. He earned his PhD in neuroscience from the UC Berkeley-UCSF joint bioengineering program, as well as his BSEE from UC Berkeley in electrical engineering/computer science. He also devoted 25 years to public education teaching community college. He has a long-standing interest in exploring psychedelics as tools to deepen our understanding of neuroscience, as well as their potential for healing and personal exploration. As part of the BCSP, he uses neuroimaging and other techniques to investigate the mechanisms of psychedelics and to explore the neural correlates associated with their clinical use.

Dawn Weinstein, MSN, NP is a board-certified nurse practitioner in the Department of Neurology at UCSF with fourteen years’ experience serving as a study clinician on clinical trials. She has a broad background in clinical research investigating pharmacologic interventions for treating psychiatric and substance use disorders. Most recently, she has provided clinical screening and medical care to research participants for clinical trials involving psychedelic medication and neuroimaging at UCSF and at UC Berkeley. She has worked as a nurse practitioner in clinical and research settings since 2000 in both the U.S. and Europe and has contributed to several peer-reviewed publications in that time.

Dr. Gül Dölen is a Professor in the Department of Psychology, the Renee & U.S. Marine LCpl Bob Parsons Endowed Chair in Psychology, Psychedelics, and Neuroscience, a senior science advisor to BCSP and a member of the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute. She also maintains an Adjunct Professorship in Neuroscience and Neurology at the Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine. Dölen is the recipient of several prestigious awards including: the Joukowsky Family Foundation Outstanding Dissertation Award, the Conquer Fragile X Rising Star Award, the Angus MacDonald Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, the Society for Social Neuroscience Early Career Award, the Searle Scholars Award, and the Johns Hopkins University President’s Frontier Award.

Jen Holmberg is a neuroscience PhD student co-advised by Michael Silver and Jack Gallant at UC Berkeley. Their research uses fMRI, naturalistic movies and computational modeling to investigate the effects of psilocybin on visual and semantic brain representations during the acute drug experience.

Michael Silver is a professor in the School of Optometry and the Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute at UC Berkeley, and is the director of BCSP. Research in the Silver laboratory focuses on the brain mechanisms of visual perception, attention, and learning. His team seeks to better understand how the brain actively constructs representations of the visual environment by using a combination of perceptual, brain imaging, computational modeling, and pharmacological techniques. Although Michael has been conducting pharmacological studies in humans for fifteen years, the initial studies as part of BCSP will be the first in his lab to involve psychedelic compounds. Following decades of suppression of research on the effects of psychedelic drugs in human subjects, he is thrilled to have the opportunity to contribute to the renaissance of psychedelic research and to conduct experiments that shine light on the mysteries of the mind and brain.

Sean Noah, PhD, is a postdoctoral researcher in Michael Silver’s laboratory at UC Berkeley. He received his PhD at UC Davis, studying the neural mechanisms of visual attention and visual awareness. At BCSP, he uses neuroimaging and psychophysical methods to link psychedelics’ neurobiological effects in the human visual system to their profound perceptual activity. He aims to better understand psychedelics’ mechanisms of action and gain insight into the relationships between the brain and conscious perception. He’s excited about the potential of psychedelics as research tools in cognitive neuroscience and hopes to demonstrate that they can be used safely in basic research with healthy volunteers, complementing their promising therapeutic potential in clinical settings. 

Tyrone Sgambati, PhD, is a postdoctoral scholar at the BCSP where he is studying how psychedelic experiences affect parasympathetic nervous system activation and how public perceptions of psychedelics are shifting over time. Prior to joining the BCSP, Tyrone completed his PhD in social-personality psychology at UC Berkeley. His doctoral work focused  on the development of intellectual humility and the role of inaccurate social perceptions in driving political polarization.

Christina Cassen is BCSP’s first finance & operations director. She brings fifteen years of leadership experience across a variety of industries: banking and financial services, alternative medicines, media, and education. She holds a BS in business management from Babson College. Christina enjoys yoga, scuba diving, and snowboarding, depending on the season. She is an avid traveler, and has visited more than sixty countries. 

Kristina Soriano is the executive assistant for BCSP. She completed her master’s in healthcare administration from Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas.

Kristina serves on the board of the Women’s Visionary Council, a nonprofit educational organization founded in 2008 by female researchers and activists to amplify the voices of women and elders in public discussions about psychedelics. In May 2020, she cofounded the Psychedelic Literacy Fund, a donor-advised fund that finances the translation of books about psychedelic therapies into different languages. A classically trained pianist and music teacher, she loves to sing medicine songs while accompanying herself on the ukulele. 

Kuranda Morgan is the Civic Science Fellow at BCSP, where she’ll lead a research and engagement project that drives forward mutually-supportive collaborations between psychedelic science and civic actors. She has a decade of experience leading impactful and inclusive programs at the nexus of research, innovation, policy, and social change. With a passion for facilitating learning and systems transformation, her work focuses on strengthening capabilities for evidence use, research translation, and knowledge exchange. At Nesta, the UK’s innovation agency for social good, she worked closely with UK government bodies, universities, and knowledge intermediaries to improve their ability to collaborate, innovate, and evidence their work. Previously, she cultivated global research networks that championed regional leadership in rigorous, policy-relevant research. She holds an MSc in Social Policy Research from the London School of Economics and Political Science, and a BA in social welfare and American studies from UC Berkeley. In her spare time, Morgan enjoys dabbling in various creative outlets, going to gigs, playing outside, and finding awe in the mundane.

Marlena Robbins is the program coordinator for the Indigenous Student Research Fellowship. She is a DrPH candidate at UC Berkeley specializing in Indigenous knowledge, psychedelic science, and mental health policy. Her research focuses on psilocybin policy in the Four Corners, with an emphasis on Navajo Tribal governance and culturally grounded care. She has contributed to SAMHSA, the Colorado Natural Medicine Tribal Working Group, and the BCSP Certificate Training Program. She now leads the Indigenous Research Student Fellowship. Marlena’s work blends policy analysis, multigenerational Native perspectives, and human-centered design to support ethical, community-led approaches to psychedelic-assisted therapy in Native-serving health systems.

Maya Acharya (they/any) is the program coordinator at the BCSP, working on transformative community events. Maya is a music maker, an educator, a program manager, and a huge advocate of rest. In their previous role at Stanford University’s Queer Student Resources, Maya focused on building community wellness and resilience through a combination of direct student supervision, program development, and relationship-building across and beyond the institution. They also have experience in justice-oriented cultural work at Stanford’s Institute for Diversity in the Arts, at the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, and in community.

Patrick Gutteridge is the senior director of development for the Berkeley Brain Initiative, which includes BCSP, within the Principal Gifts and Strategic Initiatives Berkeley Development team. Previously, Patrick co-led interdisciplinary life sciences fundraising efforts at Stanford. After serving as chief of staff to the principal and vice chancellor of McGill University, he created the university’s  successful program of engagement and philanthropy across the Western United States and Western Canada.

Rana Freedman leads communications at the BCSP, connecting diverse audiences with the Center’s research, public education, community programs and impact. With over 25 years of experience—including roles at the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and the University of California Office of the President—she has developed creative strategies that incorporate content marketing, media relations, partnerships, social media and digital storytelling. Rana is passionate about science communication, fostering curiosity and making research accessible, engaging and meaningful to the public. She is also deeply committed to sharing stories that reflect and amplify a broad range of voices, perspectives and experiences.

In his role as program director at BCSP, Tony weaves together a rich tapestry of experiences spanning operations, hospitality, digital media, social work, and psychedelic care. He holds a Master of Clinical Social Work, with advanced training in contemplative practice and psychedelic care, including the BCSP’s own Psychedelic Facilitation Certificate Program.

Throughout his career, Tony has championed impactful programs at organizations such as Insight LA, Wanderlust, the Pollination Project, and GOOD Worldwide/Upworthy, underscoring his commitment to social impact and collective wellbeing. Tony is driven by a deep-seated passion to innovate, inspire, while fostering a culture of empathy, compassion and collaboration. In his role as program director, he fosters innovative initiatives rooted in diversity, equity, inclusivity, and reciprocity, uniting cultural heritage practices, emerging research, evidence-based practices and creative communication.

In his free time, Tony enjoys hiking, swimming, cooking Thai food, and writing sci-fi screenplays.

Bob Jesse has been a quiet driving force behind the contemporary psychedelic renaissance. He was instrumental in forming the psilocybin research team at Johns Hopkins University and has coauthored several of its papers. He has led the drafting of numerous foundational documents, including the Code of Ethics for Spiritual Guides in 1995; an amicus brief for the US Supreme Court in a successful religious liberty case in 2005; and a statement on Open Science, now signed by numerous leaders in the psychedelic field, in 2017. Bob studied electrical engineering and computer science at Johns Hopkins, consulted for AT&T Bell Labs, and worked at Oracle as a vice president of business development.

Jack Gallant is the chancellor’s professor and class of 1940 chair at the University of California at Berkeley. He co-directs the Henry H. Wheeler Brain Imaging Center. Jack is affiliated with the departments of psychology, electrical engineering, and computer science, along with the programs in bioengineering, biophysics, neuroscience and vision science. He received his Ph.D. from Yale University and did post-doctoral work at the California Institute of Technology and Washington University Medical School. His research program focuses on computational modeling of the human brain under naturalistic conditions.

Robin Carhart-Harris is head of the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London and director of the Psychedelics Division of Neuroscape at UCSF. After obtaining an MA in psychoanalysis from Brunel University London, Robin completed a PhD in psychopharmacology from the University of Bristol. At Imperial College London, he has designed and completed human brain imaging studies with LSD, psilocybin, MDMA, and DMT; a clinical trial of psilocybin for treatment-resistant depression; a double-blind randomized controlled trial comparing psilocybin with escitalopram for major depressive disorder; and a multimodal imaging study in healthy volunteers receiving psilocybin for the first time. In April 2019, Robin founded the Centre for Psychedelic Research, the first of its kind in the world.

Calyx Law, established in 2016, is a boutique law firm specializing in psychedelics and emerging technologies. While a flower is budding, it is protected by a whorl of sepals that enclose the flower as it emerges and provide stability as it opens. This structure is the calyx. Like a calyx, Calyx Law sees its role as providing seed-stage and early-stage companies with the protection and support they need to come into full bloom, primarily through the strategic use of patents and other intellectual property to generate value and spur growth.

CEP, or the Collaborative for the Economics of Psychedelics (formerly GIPSE), is a network of health economists dedicated to achieving the potential of psychedelic therapies for high-priority mental health conditions. Through the application of policy-relevant economic analyses, CEP seeks to enhance clinical outcomes, increase efficiency of service delivery, and increase access to these promising therapies for everyone who can benefit.

Psychedelic Alpha is an independent media outlet, community, and consultancy firm that strives to empower a diverse constellation of individuals and organizations with the knowledge, network, and nuance to make an impact within the field of psychedelic medicine and beyond.

Through its trusted resources, timely analyses, and contributions from subject matter experts it seeks to cut through the noise and explore how we might address the clinical, cultural, and cost-based barriers to the potential roll-out of psychedelic therapies.

The Shulgin Foundation is dedicated to carrying on the legacy of Alexander “Sasha” and Ann Shulgin through community, education, and events.