Psychedelic Therapy - mechanisms, promises and challenges
Audience: Public Format: HybridDepartment of Psychiatry Seminar Series - Michaelmas Term 2026
Tuesday, 17 November 2026, 9.30am to 10.30am
Dr David Erritzoe (Imperial College London) presents in the Department of Psychiatry Seminar Series
Term: Michaelmas
Speaker(s): Dr David Erritzoe (Imperial College London)
Series: Psychiatry Seminar Series
Venue:
Department of Psychiatry - Seminar Room
Seminar Room Department of Psychiatry Headington Oxford Oxfordshire OX3 7JX United Kingdom
Venue details:
Seminar Room
Department: Psychiatry (Department)
Organiser: Professor Andrea Cipriani
Organiser email: rania.elgarf@psych.ox.ac.uk
Host: Professor Susannah Murphy
More info:
Abstract
As evidence grows for psychedelic therapy across conditions such as depression, addiction and disordered eating, a new question emerges: how do we responsibly integrate these treatments into existing healthcare frameworks?
In this talk, Dr David Erritzoe will begin with an overview of the field - from psychological and neurobiological role of psychedelics as catalysts of flexibility in “stuck” brain networks, to key findings from recent clinical trials. He will then turn to the practical realists of implementation, exploring what healthcare systems can do now to prepare for the coming wave of psychedelic therapies. Drawing on the example of ketamine service plots, David will illustrate how collaboration between public health systems and emerging treatments could offer a balanced and scalable route forward - expanding access while building the evidence base within existing care structures.
Biography
Dr David Erritzoe is a clinical associate professor in psychopharmacology and psychiatry and Director in Imperial College's Centre Psychedelic Research and the associated NHS-based CIPPRes Clinic. Here, he leads psychopharmacological and clinical research into the neurobiological underpinnings - e.g. using PET, fMRI and/or EEG brain imaging - of mental health conditions such as depression and addictions. Much of his work focuses on therapeutic effects and associated neuromechanisms of psychedelic compounds.