Suresh Muthukumaraswamy, Ph.D. - Rethinking Research: Novel Approaches to Studying LSD Microdosing

Paul Austin is joined by Dr. Suresh Muthukumaraswamy, lead researcher in the world's first LSD microdosing clinical trial.

Find episode links, summary, and transcript here.

This is another special interview recorded on location at the 2022 Wonderland Conference in Miami, FL. Dr. Muthukumaraswamy shares the unique design of his LSD microdose trial, plans for future research, and how these studies might be received in New Zealand and around the globe.

Suresh completed his Ph.D. in psychology at the University of Auckland in 2005 after which he joined the newly established Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre as a postdoctoral fellow. In 2014, Suresh received a Rutherford Discovery Fellowship and has returned to Auckland where he works in The School of Pharmacy (Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences).

Suresh’s main research interests are in understanding how therapies alter brain activity and in developing methodologies to measure these changes in both healthy individuals and patient groups - particularly patients with depression. His previous studies have involved a range of compounds including hallucinogens (ketamine, LSD, psilocybin), anesthetics (propofol, dexmedetomidine), anti-epileptics (vigabatrin, perampanel, tiagabine) and GABA-enhancers (zolpidem, gaboxadol). Suresh’s research has used a wide-range of neuroimaging techniques including magnetoencephalography, electroencephalography, functional magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

Highlights:

• Dr. Muthukumaraswamy shares his academic and professional background, and what led him to studying psychedelics.
• Dr. Muthukumaraswamy explains the origin story and unique design of his LSD microdosing study.
• How study volunteers generally respond to microdosing in a lab vs. in their normal daily environments.
• Design elements Dr. Muthukumaraswamy plans to implement in future LSD microdose studies.
• Considering how Dr. Muthukumaraswamy’s take-home LSD microdose study might impact research and policy in other countries.
• The legal landscape of psychedelics relevant to New Zealand’s indigenous Māori community.

Episode Links:

• Protocol for Dr. Muthukumaraswamy’s LSD microdose study
• Suresh’s lab, Auckland Neuro- Psycho- Pharmacology Research Group on Facebook
• Scopolamine, “Devil’s Breath”
• Ep. 172: Paul Stamets & Pamela Kryskow, M.D. - The Future of Microdosing: Legislation, Research, & Science
• Ep. 107: Mendel Kaelen - Music and Psychedelic Medicine: Healing Through Sound

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