Robin Carhart-Harris

Robin Carhart-Harris
Carhart-Harris in 2019
Born (1980-08-31) 31 August 1980 (age 44)
Durham, England, UK
Alma mater
Known forPsychedelic therapy
Scientific career
FieldsPsychopharmacology
Institutions
Doctoral advisorSue Wilson
WebsiteOfficial website Edit this at Wikidata

Robin Lester Carhart-Harris (born 31 August 1980) is a British psychopharmacologist who is Ralph Metzner Distinguished Professor in the Department of Neurology at the University of California, San Francisco. Previously, he founded and was Head of the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College London.[1]

He is noted for brain imaging studies of psychedelic and psychoactive drugs such as LSD, psilocybin, MDMA, and DMT, and research into their therapeutic use in treating psychiatric disorders such as depression.[2][3][4] In 2020, The Times named him one of the world's top 31 medical scientists.[5] The following year, he was included in TIME magazine's "100 Next" list of 100 notable people "poised to make history".[6]

Early life and career

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Carhart-Harris was born in Durham, grew up in Bournemouth,[7] and took a BSc in Applied Psychology and Computing at Bournemouth University from 2001 to 2004.[8] The following year, he moved to Brunel University and earned an MSc in Psychoanalysis and Contemporary Society.[9] Between 2005 and 2009, he took his doctorate, focused on the psychopharmacology of the serotonin system, supervised by Sue Wilson and Marcus Munafo at the University of Bristol.[1][10][11] Carhart-Harris joined David Nutt at Imperial College London in 2008,[12] and they have been regular collaborators on the use of psychoactive drugs in treating a variety of psychiatric disorders.[7][13]

In 2014, while at Imperial, Carhart-Harris became the first scientist in 40 years to test the effects of LSD legally on human volunteers.[7] In 2016, his team published promising findings from "the world's first modern research trial investigating the impact of psilocybin" on 19 patients with treatment-resistant depression.[14][15] The study showed a decrease in symptoms of depression for at least three weeks.[16] Three years later, he founded the Centre for Psychedelic Research at Imperial College, the first of its kind in the world, and remained its head for the next two years.[9][17] In 2021, Carhart-Harris relocated to the United States when he was appointed Ralph Metzner Distinguished Professor and Director of the Neuroscape Psychedelics Division in the Department of Neurology at the University of California, San Francisco.[1][18]

Research interests

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Scientific study of psychedelic drugs was effectively halted in the early 1970s when the 1970 US Controlled Substances Act and 1971 UN Convention on Psychotropic Substances made substances such as LSD illegal across much of the world.[19] Along with other academic researchers such as Roland R. Griffiths and Matthew W. Johnson of Johns Hopkins University, Robin Carhart-Harris is one of a growing number of scientists credited with rekindling interest in the field.[20][21]

Main article: Psychedelic therapy
Robin Carhart-Harris (standing) prepares an fMRI brain scan of writer Michael Pollan at Imperial College London in 2019

Carhart-Harris is noted for brain imaging studies and clinical trials of drugs such as LSD, psilocybin (the psychoactive compound found in magic mushrooms), MDMA (ecstasy), and DMT (the psychoactive substance in ayahuasca) for treating psychiatric disorders,[1][7] particularly treatment-resistant depression.[22][23][24] His research has also compared the effectiveness of psychedelic drugs against conventional SSRI drug treatments for depression.[25][26] Carhart-Harris believes psychedelics could be useful in treating other mental disorders, such as addiction and obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD),[27] as well as potentially enhancing creative thinking.[28]

He has predicted that this type of research will "cross over into the mental health mainstream... as support for the use of psychedelics in medicine continues to gain momentum".[29][30]

Carhart-Harris believes psychedelics work by "breaking down habits of mind and brain and behavior",[31] causing "a cascade of neurobiological changes that manifest at multiple scales and ultimately culminate in the relaxation of high-level beliefs".[32] These changes include heightened neuroplasticity and disruption of the default mode network (responsible for background brain activities such as mind wandering and daydreaming).[32] However, the issue remains controversial and there is no firm scientific consensus on how psychedelics achieve their effects.[31]

Awards

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In 2008, Carhart-Harris earned the Bristol-Cardiff Young Neuroscientist Award.[8] In 2015, he gained the British Association for Psychopharmacology Award.[33] He won the 2018 Association for Behavior Analysis International B F Skinner award.[8] In 2020, The Times named him one of the world's top 31 medical scientists.[5] TIME magazine included him in its "100 Next" list of 100 people likely to make history in 2021.[6] In 2023, the Vox news and opinion website named him one of its "Future Perfect 50", a list of "visionaries who have made an impact in their fields to improve lives now and in the future".[34]

Other activities

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Carhart-Harris works as a scientific adviser to numerous pharmaceutical companies.[35][36][37]

Personal life

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Carhart-Harris is married with two children.[8][38]

Selected publications

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Accessible articles and op-ed pieces

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  • Carhart-Harris, Robin (1 January 2021). "Big pharma is about to tune in to the potential of psychedelics". Wired. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  • — (20 April 2021). "Psychedelics are transforming the way we understand depression and its treatment". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 August 2023.

Academic papers

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Robin Carhart-Harris: Profile". The Conversation. 2 July 2014. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  2. ^ Huberman, Andrew (22 May 2023). "Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris: The Science of Psychedelics for Mental Health". Huberman Lab. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  3. ^ Yakowicz, Will (19 November 2021). "Inside The Race To Create A Two-Hour Psychedelic Therapy Experience". Forbes. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  4. ^ Humphreys, Rachel (17 October 2021). "Ecstasy, LSD and magic mushrooms: are these drugs the future of therapy?". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  5. ^ a b Franklin-Wallis, Oliver (23 May 2020). "From pandemics to cancer: the science power list". The Times. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  6. ^ a b "TIME 100 Next: Robin Carhart-Harris". TIME. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  7. ^ a b c d Phelan, Laurence (17 August 2014). "Dr Robin Carhart-Harris is the first scientist in over 40 years to test LSD on humans - and you're next". The Independent. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  8. ^ a b c d Carhart-Harris, Robin (March 2021). "Robin Lester Carhart-Harris: Curriculum Vitae" (PDF). Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  9. ^ a b "Esalen: Faculty: Robin Carhart-Harris, Ph.D". Esalen Institute. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  10. ^ "The Beckley/Imperial Psychedelic Research Programme". The Beckley Foundation. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  11. ^ "Robin Carhart-Harris on X". Twitter.com. November 2023.
  12. ^ Carhart-Harris, Robin (20 July 2020). "BNPA Abstracts 2020: Robin Carhart-Harris". Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry. 91 (8). British Medical Journal: e2. doi:10.1136/jnnp-2020-BNPA.4. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  13. ^ Mangan, Lucy (19 May 2021). "The Psychedelic Drug Trial review – a mind-bending magic mushroom mission". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  14. ^ Jones, Alexandra (13 March 2021). "'The ketamine blew my mind': can psychedelics cure addiction and depression?". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  15. ^ Sample, Ian (11 April 2016). "LSD's impact on the brain revealed in groundbreaking images". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  16. ^ Adams, Ben (May 18, 2016). "'Magic mushroom' compound safe for broader tests in depression". Fierce Biotech.
  17. ^ O'Hare, Ryan (26 April 2019). "Imperial launches world's first Centre for Psychedelics Research". Imperial College London. Retrieved 14 November 2023.
  18. ^ "New $6.4M research program to advance psychedelics research and treatments Grant and Award Announcement". Eurekalert. American Association for the Advancement of Science. 30 March 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  19. ^ Ponieman, Natan (21 January 2022). "New Coalition Seeks To Reschedule 'Magic Mushrooms' Under International Law". Forbes. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  20. ^ Seaton Jefferson, Robin (31 January 2019). "Scientists Rethink Psychedelics As Attitudes Change Toward Formerly Illicit Drugs". Forbes. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
  21. ^ Cumming, Ed (26 April 2015). "Is LSD about to return to polite society?". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 September 2023.
  22. ^ Carhart-Harris, Robin (20 April 2021). "Psychedelics are transforming the way we understand depression and its treatment". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  23. ^ Massey, Nina (4 April 2023). "Psychedelic drug improves symptoms of depression for six months -- study; Dimethyltryptamine is a powerful hallucinogenic found in several plants and can be smoked, snorted or mixed with ayahuasca". The Independent.
  24. ^ "Scientists treat depression with magic mushroom that can 'reboot' the brain". The Herald (Glasgow). 13 October 2017. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  25. ^ "The Psychedelic Drug Trial". BBC Two. BBC. 8 June 2021. Retrieved 20 August 2023.
  26. ^ Carhart-Harris R, Giribaldi B, Watts R, Baker-Jones M, Murphy-Beiner A, Murphy R; et al. (2021). "Trial of Psilocybin versus Escitalopram for Depression". N Engl J Med. 384 (15): 1402–1411. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2032994. PMID 33852780.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  27. ^ Pollan, Michael (2 February 2015). "The Trip Treatment". The New Yorker. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  28. ^ Kennedy, Pagan (2016). Inventology: How we dream up things that change the world. Boston: Mariner Books. p. 134. ISBN 9780544811928.
  29. ^ Carhart-Harris, Robin (1 January 2021). "Big pharma is about to tune in to the potential of psychedelics". Wired. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  30. ^ Davison, Nicola (12 May 2018). "The struggle to turn psychedelics into life-changing treatments". Wired. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  31. ^ a b Goldhill, Olivia (3 July 2023). "As psychedelics near approval, there's no consensus on how they work". Stat. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  32. ^ a b Carhart-Harris RL (2019). "How do psychedelics work?". Curr Opin Psychiatry. 32 (1): 16–21. doi:10.1097/YCO.0000000000000467. PMID 30394903.
  33. ^ "Psychopharmacology Award 2015: Robin Carhart-Harris" (PDF). British Association for Psychopharmacology. Retrieved 19 November 2023.
  34. ^ "Vox Releases Second Annual Future Perfect 50 List Honoring Visionary Change Agents". Vox. 29 November 2023. Retrieved 7 January 2024.
  35. ^ "Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris Joins Osmind as a Scientific Advisor". Contify Life Science News. 4 February 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  36. ^ "Tryp Therapeutics Appoints Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris to Scientific Advisory Board". Financial News Releases. 2 February 2021. Retrieved 19 August 2023.
  37. ^ Nutt, David; Erritzoe, David; Carhart-Harris, Robin (April 2020). "Psychedelic Psychiatry's Brave New World". Cell. 181 (1): 24–28. doi:10.1016/j.cell.2020.03.020. ISSN 0092-8674. PMID 32243793. Robin Carhart-Harris is a scientific advisor to COMPASS Pathways, Usona Institute, Synthesis Institute, and Entheon Biomedical.
  38. ^ Carhart-Harris, Robin (6 September 2023). ""And there completes one of the most intense..."". X.com. Retrieved 11 January 2024. but turning 43 as of last week and having 2 young children of an almost identical age
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