Pre-Conference Workshops
PSYCHEDELIC R&D TRACK
Tuesday 10th October 2023
8:00 am Registration & Breakfast
9:00 am
Workshop A: Making Psychedelic Clinical Trials a Reality: Mitigating Practical Burdens of Time, Investment & Reimbursement
Synopsis
Collectively collaborate and share ideas with peers to streamline clinical practicality of psychedelic trials by discussing critical
concepts:
- Optimizing the study design: What can be done to reduce time under supervision and the number of therapists required? How can we most effectively navigate blinding and unblinding procedures?
- How can we more efficiently operationalize psychedelic trials with such high levels of monitoring needed? Can some monitoring be digitalized?
- Exploring the shift towards shorter acting compounds with greater clinical accessibility: What is the minimum period of psychedelic response needed? Can we see long term benefits from short term treatments?
12:00 pm Lunch
1:00 pm
Workshop B: Enhancing Translational Confidence into Later Stage Clinical Studies with Optimized Psychedelic Biomarker Monitoring
Synopsis
Critical challenges holding back translational development of psychedelic biomarkers include mitigating highly variable subjective measurements and overcoming the lack of clarity on more
subtle mood changes. Collaborate with peers to discuss the best approaches to measuring the psychedelic experience:
- How can we gain deeper understanding of the mechanisms that underlie the downstream signalling effects of hallucinogenic molecules with enhanced biomarker measurements?
- How can we incorporate more objective monitoring of the psychedelic experience that’s related to response rather than subjective mood scales? How can these measurements be used to optimize dose specificity?
- How do we ensure the right early phase biomarker studies are done to provide confidence in preclinical efficacy assessments before progressing?
NON-PSYCHEDELIC R&D TRACK
Tuesday 10th October 2023
8:00 am Registration & Breakfast
9:00 am
Workshop C: Expanding Neuropsychiatric Pipelines
Synopsis
This interactive session will showcase the latest advances to treat indications with considerably smaller drug markets to expand beyond more heavily researched therapeutic areas, such as schizophrenia and depression.
- Explore transdiagnostic approaches and novel research efforts to address these indications
- Collaboratively discuss what can be done to ensure greater chance of success of novel therapeutics to target neuropsychiatric symptoms associated with PTSD, anorexia, and more
12:00 pm Lunch
1:00 pm
Workshop D: Pioneering Precision Neuropsychiatry: Striving Towards More Personalized & Targeted Non-Psychedelic Therapies
Synopsis
With increasing efforts to innovate precision neurobiology, uncover the latest research driving future evolution of more targeted approaches to treat core neuropsychiatric features with non-psychedelic therapeutics. This interactive session will cover:
- Applying biomarker research to develop precision medicine approaches in neuropsychiatry
- Navigating heterogenous patient populations by dividing into more defined patient subgroups to establish clearer paths to treatment
- Exploring biomarker tools available to best characterize patients and identify best responders to your drug