Our Pharmaceutical Psychoactive Investigations students explore the discovery, development, and clinical application of psychoactive drugs as therapeutic agents.
PPI MS Student Directory
Jesus Anchondo
Credentials: BA
Jesus is a Shop Foreman at Red Tail Wraps. In addition to developing the next generation of students by teaching to our future generations, Jesus intends to use his research to improve the lives of those who have suffered traumatic life events. Jesus’s hope is to start or join a mental health clinic in Texas to help veterans.
Elani Rae Barber
Credentials: BS
Elani is a Postproduction Operations Manager at Cannabis Nation Inc. She is interested in expanding her knowledge on the medicinal and therapeutic properties of psychoactive plant medicines and seeking out clinical research opportunities, or opportunities within a therapeutic setting, to engage in research firsthand. She is also passionate about spreading awareness of these potential health benefits and plan to seek out public speaking opportunities on the topic following graduation.
Lauren Blue
Credentials: PharmD
Lauren is currently a Pharmacist at Walgreens Pharmacy. Lauren’s professional goal is to be an integral part of the success of clinical trials that research the effects of psychedelic guided therapy, perhaps psilocybin, on people with treatment-resistant depression. Lauren wants to help bring this groundbreaking therapy to those people who need it the most. Lauren’s role may be in project management, the regulatory aspect, or an area of medicinal therapy is relatively novel and growing exponentially by the year!
Luke Bolstad
Credentials: BA
Luke is a Research Specialist at UW Madison Department of Neurosurgery. His professional goals are to obtain a PhD. post-graduation from the PPI M.S program and pursue a career in research. The focus of his research will be understanding how classic psychedelics, such as psilocybin, can help catalyze health behavior change in the realms of promoting physical activity and nutritional habits.
Perry Boyd
Credentials: BS
Perry’s interests began years ago when she heard about psilocybin therapy as treatment for mental disorders such as PTSD, anxiety, and depression. Perry is presently open to exploring any and all realms of psychedelic therapy, but would feel most fulfilled working within a clinical setting.
Juan Cabrera
Credentials: MD
Dr. Cabrera is a General and Geriatric Psychiatrist. As a general psychiatrist, Dr. Cabrera’s goal is to learn how psychedelic medicine can be used for treatment resistant depression and other mood disorders. As a geriatric psychiatrist, Dr. Cabrera wants to explore the efficacy of these medicines with patients with end-of-life anxiety, cognitive disorders and traumatic brain injury. As a certified performance coach, Dr. Cabrera is curious in the utility of psychedelics with persons in pursuit of self-actualization.
Melissa Cutts
Credentials: MS
Melissa is a Dispensary Agent is interested in using what she knows to help people achieve more fulfilling lives.
Leigh Farquhar
Credentials: BS
Leigh is interested in dance, music festivals, and travel. They want to go on to pursue a PhD in psychology (discipline undecided at this time) and specialize in psychedelic integration therapy and related services.
Kian Feiner
Credentials: BS
Kian is a both a Data Scientist at Glaukos Corporation, and the Head of Data & Psychedelic Integration at arii.
Kian intends to help create a sustainable future and protect Earth for posterity. Kian believes that the problems we face as a society are reflections of those we face as individuals. Therefore, Kian wishes to help create the infrastructure necessary to integrate psychoactive pharmaceuticals in society as a means to heal people and the planet, from the inside out.
Kian enjoys Soccer, Volleyball, Surfing, Pokemon, and Mythology.
Michelle Galen
Credentials: MD
Dr. Galen is a Physician and Clinical Research Investigator at Deaconess Health System. As a Clinical Research Investigator, with a background in Family Medicine and Public Health, Dr. Galen is excited to be part of the Multidisciplinary Psychoactive Pharmaceutical Investigation Program. Dr. Galen is looking forward to being on the forefront in development of emerging treatments for her current areas of research, including autism spectrum disorder, migraine headaches, and mood disorders; as well as other diverse pharmacotherapies. Through her Public Health work, she hopes to continue to work with policy makers addressing mental health issues as they relate to public health.
Madelyn Jones
Credentials: BS
Madelyn is currently searching for a position. Her professional interests include conducing and monitoring clinical trials, scientific research, project management, publication and grant writing. Her goals are to take nearly 8 years of working in clinical research and apply them to the budding realm of psychoactive pharmaceutical investigation by monitoring and managing clinical and scientific projects in which further study the science and medical applications behind psychedelics. Her hobbies and interests include traveling around the world, going on hikes, spending time with friends, reading a good book, volunteering within my community, studying weather patterns, and playing with her two cats.
Ethan Kennedy
Credentials: BS
Ethan completed the PPI Capstone Certificate before entering to the MS program.
Kayla Kinsman
Credentials: MS
Kayla is a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner (PMHNP) at the VA. Kayla is interested in psychedelic therapy for treatment of various psychiatric diagnoses, as well as herbal and holistic healing remedies.
Johnny Lugo
Credentials: BS
Johnny wants to learn more about psychoactive drugs, so he can be better prepared to go into pharmaceutical research. Johnny really wants to work with Ibogaine in the future and explore its potential of being used as a treatment for substance use disorders.
Hena Malik
Credentials: BS
Hena is a Social Media Coordinator at the Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines. Hena is interested in doing policy work and research related to psychedelic medicine. Hena’s goal is to create a community that destigmatizes psychedelic use in relation to religion, using it as a tool to become more spiritual.
Natasha Marilu Sanchez
Credentials: BS
Natasha is a Production Associate at Lin-Zhi International. Natasha’s professional interests and goals related to her program of study are to polish her investigative skills and take part in pharmacuetical research.
Alissa Mauel
Credentials: BS
Alissa’s goal is to help make psychoactive therapies accessible to populations that lack adequate treatment options, whether through work in clinical development or along the regulatory pathway. Alongside exploring the potential of these substances for psychiatric conditions like anxiety, she is particularly interested in their applications for neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s. She also hopes to contribute to drug education and policy reform within the psychedelic field.
Deepika McConnell
Credentials: PharmD
Deepika worked as a neurocritical care pharmacist caring for patients with neurologic diseases for most of her career. Her interest in psychedelic medicine stems from their ability to promote neuroplasticity. Deepika is drawn towards continuing her work in clinical practice with a goal to make treatment accessible to all patients.
Emily Mendoza
Credentials: BA
Emily would love to be a part of a research study that is focused on the use of psychoactive medicine as an alternative for the treatment of mental health and drug addictions.
Sarah Minto-Sparks
Credentials: BS
Sarah is fascinated by psychopharmacology and psychedelic applications for mental health. Sarah is looking to expand upon her undergraduate neuroscience degree and learn about psychoactive drugs in depth, meet like-minded peers, connect with mentors, and ultimately find their place as a scientist in this field!
Tessa Mullin
Credentials: BA
Tessa is currently a Research Assistant at Rush Medical University in Chicago, IL. Tessa’s goal is to help shape the way we approach mental health, making it a more holistic view as opposed to one avenue of treatment.
Nicholas Panico
Credentials: BS
Nicholas is a Medical Writer at Symbio Research LLC. He’d like to gain the necessary scientific background to do clinical research work in the psychedelic space, particularly for mental health.
Bri Pomonis
Credentials: BS
Bri is a Researcher 3 at the University of Minnesota Medical School. Bri is interested in research and developing therapeutic frameworks for using psychedelics in eating disorder/addiction recovery, and how psychedelics can be used to expand the concept of “self” beyond the physical body. Bri is passionate about drug education for young people and harm reduction. Bri also loves exploring the relationship between music and drugs, and how recreationally/socially-used drugs influence how we experience, perceive, and feel about music/the setting.
Shea Ruhly
Credentials: BS
Shea is a pharmacy intern at Walgreens. As a recent graduate of UW-Madison, she is continuing her education in the PPI MS program to further advance her knowledge in the area of psychedelic therapies for mental health care. She believes this field is the future of treatment of these conditions, and wants to apply this evolving research to her future career in medicine. Shea’s goal is to attend medical school and implement these advances in my treatment of patients in a clinical setting.
Rana Sebak
Credentials: BA
Rana currently works in the pharmaceutical industry as a Trial Manager, and would like to take on a more scientific role in the industry, where Rana gets to contribute to writing and developing clinical trial protocols and clinical study reports, analyzing data, determining dosing for upcoming cohorts, and providing the scientific expertise necessary to design and deliver clinical studies and programs.
Brandon Smith
Credentials: BA
Brandon‘s goal is to become more educated about pharmaceutical industry operations and drug science in order to help increase accessibility to alternative (e.g. psychoactive) mental health treatments. Ultimately, Brandon hopes to also be able to influence policy to help the U.S. get to a point where drugs are regulated, but decriminalized.
Carter Smith
Credentials: BA, CPhT
Carter is a Senior OR Pharmacy Technician with the University of Kentucky. Carter is interested in expanding the oceanic boundlessness of research in the psychedelic realm and becoming an advocate for these medicines. As such, his career goals evolve and change routinely. He is interested in rock climbing, growing plants, and playing with cats.
Maddy Tolland
Credentials: BS
Maddy is a Lab Technician/Technical Support at Sage Science. Over the past five years, Maddy has gained experience in the mental health industry as a residential counselor, laboratory and research skills in the medical laboratory field, as well as cannabis extraction and development at a biotech company. Maddy’s goal is to open her own clinic by 2030, with the mission to provide therapeutic experiences and products through the use of psychoactive medicine. Maddy plans to combine her knowledge of medicinal plants with her science background and passion for mental health treatment in a way that allows people to confront their trauma in a new, mind-expanding way.
Stephanie Wong
Credentials: BS
Stephanie is a Category Manager at Ruggable. Stephanie hopes to be a reliable advocate in psychoactive pharmacology research, mental health, and public health.
Alexandra Yokomizo
Credentials: BS
Alexandra is a Research Laboratory Technician at Touro University Nevada. Her professional goal is to apply her background in healthcare, sleep medicine, cannabis cultivation, and research with this degree to join a research team or center dedicated to advancing the knowledge and science behind psychoactives.
PPI Capstone Student Directory
Abigail Bowring
Credentials: BS
Abigail is a Lab Manager at Texas A&M School of Medicine. This application cycle, she is pursuing a research intensive doctoral program with an emphasis on psychedelic therapeutics for treatment resistant mental health. The Psychoactive Pharmaceutical Investigation Program is a unique formal educational opportunity that will enrich her foundational knowledge and broaden her perspective as work towards becoming an independent researcher.
Cora Brumley
Credentials: MBA
Cora is the Director of Finance & Operations at the Center for Leadership & Educational Equity. Cora is interested in opportunities in organizational leadership in this growing field.
Martín Guerrero
Credentials: MBA, CFA
Martín is dedicated to supporting individuals facing substance abuse and mental health challenges by promoting access to plant medicine. With over 15 years of diverse business experience, he aims to leverage the skills and knowledge gained from the PPI program to advance commercialization efforts in the psychedelics field.
Tim Hughes
Credentials: BS
Tim is a stay at home father and his professional focus is on exploring the therapeutic potential of psychoactive substances, particularly natural psychedelics and plant medicines. He is fascinated by how these substances interact with consciousness in humans and across species. He is driven to understand how animals’ interactions with psychoactives might reveal adaptive behaviors or evolutionary insights. Tim also believes in challenging the misconceptions about these medicines. For him, it’s about advocating for a more open-minded, science-based perspective that recognizes the value of nature’s gifts. His goal is to contribute to a world where psychoactive substances are understood for their healing potential and accessible to all who can benefit.
Jacy Swiggum
Credentials: MS
As a forward-thinking individual with a passion for human-centric solutions, Jacy plans to integrate her interest in plant science with her academic background in Consumer Behavior and Design to drive innovation within the Psychoactive industry. Whether it be through the advancement of treatments, regulatory structure, patient experience or an entrepreneurial venture, she is hoping to play a part in shaping the future of mental health treatment.
Owen Wheeler
Credentials: BA
Owen is a Research Assistant at Unlimited Sciences. His professional goals are to research and implement evidence-based practices for psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy as states such as Colorado roll out their emerging treatment programs. This includes but is not limited to replicability of clinical findings in diverse populations, developing culturally informed therapeutic practices in psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy, and ensuring equitable access to these interventions.
Additional PPI MS Students
- Aaron Lisle
- Al Bugazia
- Alex Moreno
- Alissa Mauel
- Andrea Miranda
- Andrew Zolp
- Ariel Shaw
- Chloe Keaty
- Christa Rogers
- Christina Sargent
- Christopher Cramer
- Dakota Smith
- Damian Thomas
- David Cox
- Dylan Shaefer
- Edward Shaughnessy
- Isabel Bermudez
- Kathy Phillips
- Lauren Sweezey
- Laurie Cossar
- Luna Crowley
- Marlee Richardson
- Mary Sluder
- Marie Martin
- Matt Nelson
- Meade (Farris) Sawaya
- Nikki Greene
- Nicole King
- Renzo Costa
- Shannon Finnigan
- Shay McLean
- Tess Durham
- T McCullough
- Travus Maloney
- Victoria Chen
- Zachary Wright
Additional PPI Capstone Students
- Alexander Gekas
- Erin Rennebohm Sistare
- Heather McComas
- Jacob Hawkes
- Jose Apodaca
- Joseph Sanchez
- Kaia Sword
- Kelsey Rice
- Lauren Foster
- Marie Parish
- Marlon Delos Reyes
- Max Salazar
- Maya Trivedi
- Nicole Terrill
- Robert Cleary