Meet the Team

I'm Greg Cooper (@GregetarianC) and I’m most interested in the ways that drugs affect how the brain processes time, how the brain can generate a sense of self, and how to apply advancements in machine learning to decode hallucinations from neuroimaging data.

I’m Regan Harle and I'm part of the LIDo 2020 PhD cohort. I’ll be focusing on the relationship between inner speech and the psychedelic experience, using neuroimaging. My goal is for psychedelics to be viewed for their therapeutic potential.

I'm Rebecca Harding (@bex_harding), a 1st year PhD student and UG Statistics Demonstrator. I completed my MSc in Translational Neuroscience with @Imperial_PRG. I then became a Research Assistant at the University of Cambridge. As part of the UNITy project, I am exploring how psychedelics can be used to treat addictive disorders, with a particular focus on using fMRI to determine the neural predictors of therapeutic efficacy. 

I'm Ros (@rosmcalpine), a Wellcome-UCL Mental Health Science PhD student. My research focuses on understanding predictors of response to psychedelics and exploring the intersection between contemplative practices and psychedelic science.

I’m Agathe Fauchile (@FauchilleAgathe), I’m fascinated by the power of psychedelics to uncover the mysteries of consciousness and heal the mind. I’ve worked on the world’s first clinical trial of DMT for depression (@smallpharma) and am now working on my PhD at @PsychedelicUNIT.

Hey, I'm Shelan Ofori (@SHELANZAYNAH), I'm in the first year of my PhD. My research is focusing on visualizing neuroplasticity induced by DMT, post a memory destabilization intervention, in hazardous drinkers. When I'm not doing science, you can find me listening to music or watching Vikings.

Joanna is a PhD student working on naturalistic experience sampling using digital apps and wearables. Specifically, she is interested in adapting recent advances in natural language processing to analyse changes in inner speech and develop linguistic/vocal biomarkers of psychedelic effects. This work has implications for understanding how language is connected to sense of self, and how this corresponds to wellbeing. 

Hi! I’m Marcus Glennon (@marcus_glennon). I graduated from @YorkPsychology with a degree in psychology and neuroscience, and now I am a PhD student assisting with the neuroimaging side of the UNITy project. I am fascinated by linking the psychology and neurobiology of psychedelics.

Hey! I’m Oris Shenyan (@oshenyan), and I am a UCL MSc Cognitive Neuroscience graduate and current LIDo PhD student. I am interested in using neuroimaging and psychedelics to better understand our visual processes.

I'm George Blackburne (@rhizoqualia), I'm a PhD student developing neurocomputational frameworks for the multidimensional structure of experience. I like swimming in the sea and wish the water would hold me forever

Hi, I’m Magda, a PhD student interested in embodied approaches to psychedelic research. Using neuroimaging and physiological recordings, I investigate the role of the body - including the heart - in altered states of consciousness.

Hi! I’m Rachel Morse, a UCL MSc in Psychological Sciences graduate. I’m passionate about investigating consciousness through psychedelics and alterations to the self, including how changes to representations of the self can influence mental health and wellbeing!

Hi! I'm Alex Piot, a @uclnpp Clinical Neuroscience MSc student and the president of @uclsap. I'm interested in the therapeutic potential of psychedelics from a biochemical and clinical perspective, to treat various neuropsychiatric disorders and better understand consciousness.

I'm Shaima Alterkawi (@saintshimmy), a Saudi-American UCL psychology grad working on participant care within the UNITy project. I'm interested in the study of consciousness through psychedelics and would like to pair this with either forensic psychology or dementia research.

I’m Haya Al-Hejailan (@Hayahuascah), MSc, I’m a positive psychologist from Saudi Arabia. I specialize in psychedelic integration and my main interests include positive clinical psychology, harm reduction, MDMA assisted psychotherapy for cPTSD & BPD and bridging the gap between psychedelic science and the MENA/SWANA region (Middle East & North Africa/ Southwest Asia & North Africa).

Hi there! I am Katarina Krajnović, a Psychology Undergraduate at UCL. I am a mental health hotline volunteer (Shout organisation) and have done previous research on the effects of the pandemic on mental health. I am particularly interested in individual differences, and how various interventions for mental health, including the use of psychedelics in therapeutic settings, apply differently to people.

I’m Henok, a Social Cognition MSc graduate at UCL. My interests lie in the intersection between contemplative practices and psychedelics in therapeutic contexts. Using natural language processing methods, my research explored how meditation may affect psychedelic experiences in naturalistic settings.

Hi, I’m Eduardo Schenberg. I helped run the first LSD neuroimaging study in humans and coordinated the first Brazilian study using MDMA during psychotherapy for the treatment of severe PTSD. I am the founder and President of the Phaneros Institute, a Brazilian non-profit pioneering clinical research on Psychedelic-Assisted Psychotherapy. I will be collaborating on the UNITy project and we’ll be implementing the UNITy neuroimaging protocol for PAP in Brazil.

eMoodie is an app created as a research tool for the purpose of studying mental health symptoms, emotions and health factors (such as sleep) in older children, teenagers and young adults. eMoodie Labs is collaborating with UNITy to track our participants in order to understand how psychedelics affect their inner thoughts and how these subsequently relate to their mental health and wellbeing.

I am a neuroscientist, writer, and stage director. In all capacities, I am drawn to the uncertainties inherent in human interactions. My scientific work bridges theoretical neurobiology, cognitive neuroscience, psychiatric genetics, cell biology and neuroimmunology. Central themes include: psychosis, active inference, interoception, self-other distinctions in the mind, immune system and in pregnancy; hallucinations, delusions, psychedelics and conspiracy theories.

Hey, I’m Deniz Erden. I’m completing my MSc at Université Paris Cité (@univ_paris_cite) and interning with the UNITy family. My interests lie in the dynamics of language and visual networks with a pinch of consciousness on the top. I'm particularly fascinated by how psychedelics influence the functional connectivity in the brain.

I’m Vera, and I’m an MSc student in the Cognitive and Decision Sciences programme at UCL. I am interested in the relationship between psychedelics, mental health, and inner speech. Specifically, I use natural language processing and machine learning models to predict psychedelic treatment outcome and mental health from linguistic features and passive sensing data.

Hi! I’m Albi, an MSc student in Brain and Mind Sciences. My interest in psychedelics stems from my undergrad dissertation on their therapeutic effects. As part of the UNITy team, I’m investigating linguistic patterns and markers to predict mental health changes using voice recordings. I also volunteer in drug harm reduction, and I love surfing and paragliding in the Alps, where I’m from.

Hi! I’m Bente, part of the MSc Brain and Mind Sciences. I’m interested in what psychedelics can tell us about consciousness, mental health and spirituality. After having done my BSc at University College Maastricht, I am now using fMRI to investigate the role of language in consciousness, as mediated by DMT. Beyond that, I love bouldering and water.

We are Prunella and Rupert, and we are the official UNITy companion animals. Though we do not partake in psychedelics for research purposes, we are aware that we have plenty of endogenous DMT.

I’m Mayer. My main hobby is chewing on things until I reach ultimate destruction. Otherwise, I like sitting in weird positions and licking faces.