Dennis McKenna on Psychedelic Medicines

Join renowned ethnopharmacologist and author Dennis McKenna for an interdisciplinary talk exploring psychedelic medicines. Dr. McKenna shares what he has learned throughout his more than 40 years of researching plant hallucinogens—from his collaborations with his brother, Terence McKenna, to his extensive fieldwork in the Peruvian, Colombian, and Brazilian Amazon. One of the strongest advocates on behalf of ethnogenic plant medicines, Dr. McKenna also discusses the potential therapeutic uses of psychedelic medicines.

Don’t miss this engaging talk combining ethnobotany, psychopharmacology, history, and the philosophical reflections of a luminary in this field.

This is talk does not promote, facilitate, or require the use of entheogens. This event and the views expressed by the presenter(s) are not a reflection of the views of California Institute of Integral Studies (CIIS), its Center for Psychedelic Therapies and Research, or the individuals employed by CIIS.

Dennis McKenna’s professional and personal interests are focused on the interdisciplinary study of ethnopharmacology and plant hallucinogens. He has conducted extensive ethnobotanical fieldwork in the Peruvian, Colombian, and Brazilian Amazon, recently completing a four-year project investigating Amazonian ethno medicines as potential treatments for cognitive deficits. He received his doctorate in 1984 from the University of British Columbia, where his doctoral research focused on ethnopharmacological of ayahuasca and oo-koo-he. He joined Shaman Pharmaceuticals as Director of Ethnopharmacology in 1990, and relocated to Minnesota in 1993 to join the Aveda Corporation as Senior Research Pharmacognosist.

Dr. McKenna taught courses in Ethnopharmacology, Botanical Medicines and Plants in Human Affiairs at the Center for Spirituality and Healing at the University of Minnesota from 2001 to 2017. He is a founding board member of the Heffter Research Institute and serves on the advisory board of non-profit organizations in the fields of ethnobotany and botanical medicines. He was a key organizer and participant in the Hoasca Project, an international biomedical study of ayahuasca used by indigenous people and syncretic religious groups in Brasil.

From 2004 to 2008, he was the Principal Investigator on a project funded by the Stanley Medical Research Institute to investigate Amazonian ethnomedicines for the treatment of schizophrenia and cognitive deficits. In 2017, with the collaboration of many colleague, he organized and presented a landmark conference, the Ethnopharmacologic Search for Psychoactive Drugs: 50 years of Research. The conference commemorated the 50th anniversary of the original conference held in San Franscisco in 1967. Dr. McKenna is author or co-author of 4 books and over 50 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals.