Speakers

Convenors

Noah Feldman

Professor Noah Feldman (co-convenor) is the Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Chair of the Society of Fellows, and founding director of the Julis-Rabinowitz Program on Jewish and Israeli Law, all at Harvard University. He specializes in constitutional studies, with particular emphasis on power and ethics, design of innovative governance solutions, law and religion, and the history of legal ideas. Feldman is the author of 10 books, including his latest, To Be a Jew Today: A New Guide to God, Israel, and the Jewish People(Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2024). Other works include The Arab Winter: A Tragedy (Princeton University Press, 2020), Divided By God: America’s Church-State Problem and What We Should Do About It (Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2005); What We Owe Iraq: War and the Ethics of Nation Building (Princeton University Press 2004).

Jay Michaelson

Rabbi Dr. Jay Michaelson (co-convenor) is the Gruss Visiting Professor at Harvard Law School and a field scholar at the Emory Center for Psychedelics and Spirituality. He is the author of ten books, including The Heresy of Jacob Frank: From Jewish Messianism to Esoteric Myth, which won the National Jewish Book Award for scholarship. Dr. Michaelson’s work focuses on the intersection of law and religion, particularly in the contexts of psychedelics, gender, and religious liberty. He holds a JD from Yale, a PhD in Jewish Thought from Hebrew University, and nondenominational rabbinic ordination.

Susan M. Kahn

This symposium is coordinated by Susan M. Kahn, the Associate Director at The Julis-Rabinowitz Program on Jewish and Israeli Law at Harvard Law School. Susan Kahn received a Ph.D. in Anthropology and a master’s degree in Middle Eastern Studies from Harvard University. From 2003-2015 she served as Associate Director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard, Director of the Master’s Program in Middle Eastern Studies, and Lecturer in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations. Her previous book Reproducing Jews: A Cultural Account of Assisted Conception in Israel (Duke 2000) won a National Jewish Book Award.

Lila Rimalovski

This symposium is also coordinated by Lila Rimalovski, a Master of Divinity Candidate at Harvard Divinity School. Lila is the program assistant for the symposium for Psychedelics in Monotheistic Traditions and is on the path to ordination as an eco-chaplain.

Presenters and Panelists

Kamal Abu-Shamsieh

Dr. Kamal Abu-Shamsieh is a distinguished scholar and expert in spiritual care, with a focus on interfaith dialogue and end-of-life ethics. He holds a master’s degree in Christian-Muslim relations from Hartford Seminary, a certificate in Islamic Chaplaincy, and a Ph.D. in practical theology from the Graduate Theological Union. His research centers on the intersection of ethics and law, particularly using Prophet Muhammad’s dying as a model for end-of-life care. Dr. Abu-Shamsieh is a founding member of the Association of Muslim Chaplains and serves as president of Ziyara Spiritual Care, where he provides chaplaincy training for Muslims worldwide. As an assistant professor of practical theology, he directs the Interreligious Chaplaincy Program at GTU, teaching courses in spiritual care, including a unique focus on psychedelic chaplaincy. Dr. Abu-Shamsieh is a frequent speaker and educator, committed to advancing spiritual care practice and fostering interfaith understanding in clinical settings. He can be contacted at kshamsieh@gtu.edu.

Sughra Ahmed

Sughra's expertise lies in religion, plant medicines and Muslim cultures. Working in a range of spiritual and religious capacities, Sughra Ahmed has spent time in the UK and USA exploring contextual theology, religious expressions and plant medicines across communities of faith and belief. As Associate Dean for Religious Life, at Stanford University her role included preaching, research and pastoral care with a focus on person centred care of staff and students. She leads a digital Muslim psychedelic network, is a public speaker and enjoys discovering connections between Islam and plant medicines. She has an MA in Islamic Studies, Diploma in Islamic Jurisprudence and is a Chaplain.

Ismail Ali

Ismail Lourido Ali, JD (he/him or they/them) has been personally utilizing psychedelics and other substances in celebratory and spiritual contexts for more half his life, and has been actively participating in the drug policy reform movement for over a decade. As the Director of Policy & Advocacy at the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies (MAPS), Ismail supports the design, building, and implementation of psychedelic policy reform across the country and world. Ismail is licensed to practice law in the state of California, co-founded the Psychedelic Bar Association, and currently co-chairs its Board of Directors. Ismail advises, is formally affiliated with, or has served in leadership roles for numerous organizations in the drug policy ecosystem, including Students for Sensible Drug Policy, Chacruna Institute, the Ayahuasca Defense Fund, and Alchemy Community Therapy Center, and recently co-founded the Central California Psychedelic Summit in his hometown of Fresno.

Laura Appleman

Laura I Appleman is the Van Winkle Melton Professor of Law and University Research Integrity Officer at Willamette University Law School. She teaches criminal procedure, family law, sentencing law & policy, and race & the law. Appleman is a national expert on criminal juries, carceral profits, and eugenics in the criminal system. Her scholarship has been widely published in books and law reviews, and she has written for the New York Times, Al-Jazeera America, Slate, and Freakonomics. A 1998 graduate of the Yale Law School, Appleman clerked for Ninth Circuit Judge A. Wallace Tashima in Pasadena, CA. From 2000-05, she was a Manhattan criminal public appellate defender, arguing over 50 appeals in the NY appellate courts. Appleman serves on the Public Defenders of Marion County executive board and the Yale Law Alumni Steering Committee, and was elected to the American Law Institute in 2024.

Hena Malik Başak

Hena Malik Başak is dedicated to exploring the healing and spiritual potentials of cannabis and psychedelics. With a passion for drug education, harm reduction, and reform, Hena’s work focuses on trauma-related conditions, particularly the under-researched symptoms of dissociation and derealization. Hena holds a B.S. in Biology from the University of Florida, a degree in Arts and Humanities, and a Master’s degree in Psychoactive Pharmaceuticals from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Coming from a Pakistani background and being raised Muslim, Hena is committed to bridging Islamic theology and psychedelics. This dedication inspired the creation of her Islam, Muslims, and Psychedelics series, which highlights and uplifts Muslim leaders in this emerging field. Previously, she served as the Communications Officer at the Chacruna Institute and currently serves on the Board of Directors for Students for Sensible Drug Policy (SSDP). Hena is currently the Social Media Officer for the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS).

Karina Bashir

Karina Bashir is an accomplished attorney and thought leader with a specialized focus on the intersection of law, business ethics, and psychedelics. As counsel with Antithesis Law, PC, she provides guidance on a range of core business and regulatory services. Her legal expertise encompasses international human rights, ESG, best practices, compliance, and internal investigations. Karina’s nearly decade-long experience in human rights informs her perspective that psychedelic legalization should be recognized as a human rights issue, due to its significant healing potential. A leading voice on regulatory matters, she collaborates with the North Star Project to advance safe and equitable access to psychedelics, promoting best practices and enhancing industry accountability. Karina serves on the Board of the Psychedelic Bar Association and is a steward of the Religious Use Committee. A Fulbright and Gates Cambridge Scholar, Karina holds a J.D. from UC Berkeley and an M.Phil. from Cambridge.

Nathaniel Berman

Nathaniel Berman is the Rahel Varnagen Professor Emeritus at Brown University and Visiting Professor at Columbia University. Among his publications are "Divine and Demonic in the Poetic Mythology of The Zohar: the 'Other Side' of Kabbalah" (The Hague: Brill 2018) and "Passion and Ambivalence : Colonialism, Nationalism, and International Law" (The Hague: Brill, 2011).

Jeffrey Breau

Jeffrey is Program Lead for the Center’s Psychedelics and Spirituality program and a social science researcher focusing on contemporary psychedelic churches and psychedelic chaplaincy. He received his MDiv from Harvard Divinity School in 2024. There he co-led the Harvard Psychedelic Project and studied contemporary spiritualities, chaplaincy, and end of life care. Jeffrey is currently conducting a multiyear ethnography of novel psychedelic churches in the United States. The study explores these communities’ ritual practices, theologies, social structures, and approaches to safety. Jeffrey also researches psychedelic chaplaincy. In that capacity he is a member of the ketamine chaplaincy advisory group at Brigham and Women’s Faulkner Hospital, where he formerly provided ketamine integration counseling.

Rev. Jaime Clark-Soles

Rev. Dr. Jaime Clark-Soles is Professor of New Testament at Perkins School of Theology at SMU. She earned her Ph.D. from Yale University and M.Div. from Yale Divinity School. She is the author of Women in the Bible and "Psychedelics, the Bible, and the Divine." She is currently writing Psychedelics and Soul Care: What Christians Need to Know. She is a Field Scholar for the Emory Center for Psychedelics and Spirituality and an Affiliated Researcher in the PULSE initiative connected to Harvard Law School. She has served in both congregational and hospice settings. Rev. Clark-Soles is affiliated with the Transforming Chaplaincy Network and has earned the Certificate in Psychedelic-Assisted Therapies and Research through CIIS. She speaks on the topic of psychedelics and religious experience to a wide variety of audiences, which has included the American Academy of Religion, the Cleveland Clinic, the Parliament of the World's Religions, counseling centers, universities, and churches.

Ron Cole-Turner

Ron Cole-Turner is professor emeritus at Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, where he held the H. Parker Sharp Chair in Theology and Ethics for 25 years. He is a founding member of the International Society for Science and Religion, currently serving on the Executive Committee. He is the author and editor of various books, including Transhumanism and Transcendence: Christian Hope in an Age of Technological Enhancement (Georgetown); Design and Destiny: Jewish and Christian Perspectives on Human Germline Modification (MIT); and most recently Psychedelics and Christian Faith: Exploring an Unexpected Pathway to Healing and Spirituality (Wipf and Stock, 2025).

Joshua Falcon

Joshua Falcon is a visiting assistant professor of English and lecturer of anthropology with a background in Religious Studies and Philosophy. His research primarily focuses on the philosophical, political, and cultural dimensions of psychedelic drug use in the United States. His works have previously explored psychedelics in relation to biopolitics, decoloniality, subjectivity, and human-environment relations, and his current research continues to explore the variegated uses of psilocybin mushrooms in United States subcultures.

Jessica Felix-Romero

Jessica Felix Romero is a national faith leader advancing progressive religious movement building, interspiritual collaboration, and theological innovation. With over 15 years of experience in social justice advocacy, organizing, and communications, she previously served as Vice President and Chief Strategy and Impact Officer at Sojourners, where she helped set faith-based narrative change and justice-oriented policy agendas. She currently serves as the board chair for Ligare. Holding a doctorate in conflict analysis and resolution, Jessica integrates holistic systems thinking with transformative design to foster social change. Her work explores the intersections of spirituality, ancestral wisdom, and Christianity. Her latest publication, God’s Wisdom Implanted in All Things (2024), examines entheogenic plant wisdom, Christian mysticism, and embodied theology as pathways to emergent wisdom. A student of somatic writing and embodied leadership, Jessica is committed to reclaiming ancient spiritual traditions for contemporary faith communities.

Natalie Ginsberg

Natalie Lyla Ginsberg (MSW) is the Global Impact Officer at the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies, (MAPS), and the co-founder of the Jewish Psychedelic Summit.  Natalie joined MAPS in 2014, founding the Policy & Advocacy department, and serving as its director for 5 years.  At MAPS, Natalie initiated and co-developed MAPS’ Health Equity program, including MAPS' first MDMA Therapy Training for Communities of Color, and co-authored the first study interviewing Palestinians and Israelis who have shared ayahuasca ceremonies.  Before joining MAPS, Natalie worked as a Policy Fellow at the Drug Policy Alliance, where she helped legalize medical cannabis in her home state of New York, and worked to end race-based marijuana arrests.  Natalie was born and raised in New York City and currently lives in Los Angeles, CA. She received her B.A. in history from Yale College, and her master’s of social work (M.S.W.) from Columbia University.  

Rabbi Dan Goldblatt

Rabbi Dan Goldblatt was ordained by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi In 1995 and mentored by Reb Zalman for more than 20 years. Following three decades of congregational work and social activism, Rabbi Dan now co-directs the AriYael Jewish Healing Center in the San Francisco Bay Area. The healing center was created to be an essential support for individuals and families responding to illness, loss and all life transitions. He was privileged to work with expert psychedelic teachers and guides, including Ralph Metzner. Rabbi Dan has done a significant amount of psychedelic integration work with individuals, couples, families, and groups and is at the forefront of exploring the integration of sacred medicine into Jewish spiritual practice.

Christian Greer

Dr. J. Christian Greer is a scholar of Religious Studies with a special focus on psychedelic culture. He has held teaching positions at Harvard University, Yale University, and is currently a lecturer at Stanford University. While a postdoctoral researcher at Harvard Divinity School, he led a series of seminars which culminated in the creation of the "Harvard Psychedelic Walking Tour," an audio-guide detailing how the Harvard community has shaped the history of psychedelic culture. He is also the co-founder and co-chair of the "Drugs and Religion" program unit at the American Academy of Religion, as well as a co-founder of The Chalice, a monthly lecture series focused on psychedelics in Berkeley, California. Each June, he leads “The Psychedelic Universe: Global Perspectives on Higher Consciousness,” an intensive summer school seminar hosted by the University of Amsterdam’s Graduate School of Social Sciences.

Rabbi Jill Hammer

Rabbi Jill Hammer, PhD, is an author, teacher, midrashist, mystic, poet, essayist, and priestess.  She is committed to an earth-based and wildly mythic view of the world in which nature, ritual, and story connect us to the body of the cosmos and to ourselves.  Rabbi Hammer is the Director of Spiritual Education at the Academy for Jewish Religion, a pluralistic rabbinical and cantorial seminary in Yonkers, NY.  At AJR, she specializes in ancient and contemporary midrash, mysticism, ritual, and contemporary spirituality.  

Allison Hoots

Allison Hoots, Esq. works as an attorney with unique experience advising in the psychedelics space. She provides legal counsel on contractual, transactional, employment, corporate/business formation, healthcare, constitutional, and intellectual property law at Hoots Law Practice PLLC. Allison is Executive Director of Sacred Plant Alliance, a self-regulating association of psychedelic churches dedicated to legal, safe, and ethical ceremonial relationships with sacrament. Allison is Head Legal Counsel for New Yorkers for Mental Health Alternatives, working on drug policy reform; she authored a bill introduced as A10375 to legalize psilocybin for adult use in New York. Allison is Law and Drug Policy Reform Advisor for the Chacruna Institute for Psychedelic Plant Medicines and was lead author of Chacruna’s “Guide to RFRA & Best Practices for Psychedelic Plant Medicine Churches.

Ayize Jama-Everett

Ayize Jama-Everett is a therapist, professor, theologian, author, and filmmaker. His artistic work is categorized as Afrofuturism and can be found in a series of novels and graphic novels. Academically, Ayize focuses on the intersection between substance use and culture, particularly the cultures of the African Diaspora. He is the Producer/director of a documentary entitled A Table Of Our Own about the role of Black people in the Psychedelic movement. He serves on the boards of Psychedelics Today, The Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation, and Access to Doorways, a non-profit dedicated to providing culturally responsive above-ground psychedelic treatment to Queer BIPOC individuals.

Rabbi Zac Kamenetz

Zac is a rabbi and community leader based in Berkeley, CA. As the founder and CEO of Shefa, Zac is leading a movement to integrate safe and supported psychedelic use into the Jewish spiritual tradition, advocating for the healing of individual and inherited traumas, and inspiring a Jewish religious and creative renaissance in the 21st century. He is a qualified instructor of MBSR and is trained in ketamine-assisted psychotherapy through Inbodied Life and the Hakomi Institute of Northern California.

Martin Lederman

Martin Lederman is a Professor from Practice at the Georgetown University Law Center. He worked on issues related to religious liberty as deputy assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel from 2009 to 2010, and as an attorney advisor in OLC from 1994-2002. He is a regular contributor to several blogs and web sites, including Balkinization, SCOTUSblog, Opinio Juris, and Slate, writing principally on issues relating to separation of powers, war powers, torture, detention, interrogation, international law, treaties, executive branch lawyering, statutory interpretation, and the First Amendment.

Victoria Litman

Victoria Grace Litman M.Div., J.D., LL.M. is a visiting professor at Roger Williams University School of Law, where she teaches Torts, Cannabis Law, and Psychedelics Law. She is also a Fellow in Psychedelic Law and Spirituality at Harvard Law School’s Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics.

Madison Margolin

Madison is an author, journalist, educator, and facilitator focused on the intersection between Judaism and psychedelics. Her first book Exile & Ecstasy: Growing Up with Ram Dass & Coming of Age in the Jewish Psychedelic Underground was published in November 2023, while her next book—a Jewish psychedelic practical guide—is forthcoming. Co-founder of DoubleBlind Magazine and Jewish Psychedelic Summit, she is a contributing editor to Ayin Press and has written for outlets like Rolling Stone, Vice, and Playboy. Originally from Los Angeles, she splits her time between New York and Israel.

Mason Marks

Mason Marks, MD, JD is a Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard Law School. Dr. Marks is the Florida Bar Health Law Section Professor at the Florida State University College of Law. At Harvard Law School, he is the senior fellow and lead of the Project on Psychedelics Law and Regulation (POPLAR), which he co-founded at the Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology, and Bioethics in 2021. Professor Marks is also a visiting fellow at the Information Society Project (ISP) at Yale Law School. An expert on the fast-emerging psychedelics industry, he advises state and federal agencies and lawmakers on the evolving controlled substances landscape. He has presented his research at the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Public Health Service, and the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.

Oriana Mayorga

Oriana (she/her/ella) is a cis-femme, first-generation, queer Latina with disabilities. Master of divinity, Oriana works in New York as a multifaith, bilingual chaplain for individuals experiencing grief, trauma, immediate loss, and illness. oriana has over a decade of involvement in the drug policy movement, primarily helping psychedelic organizations center the needs and dreams of people of color. She is a harm reductionist and doctoral student.

Bryan McCarthy

Bryan teaches philosophy at University of Pittsburgh, Greensburg. He also currently co-leads a qualitative study on psychedelic experiences with Christian elements and team-teaches an undergraduate research course associated with the study. Recently, he wrote "Christianity and Psychedelic Medicine: A Pastoral Approach" and co-wrote "Psychedelic Christianity: From evangelical hippies and Roman Catholic intellectuals in the sixties to clergy in a Johns Hopkins clinical trial" with Hunt Priest.

Josh McDaniel

Josh is an Assistant Clinical Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and Faculty Director of the School’s Religious Freedom Clinic, which represents individuals and religious groups on a pro bono basis. His areas of scholarly interest include civil rights and liberties, constitutional law, and religious freedom and free exercise issues, especially as those issues concern religious minorities. Before entering clinical teaching, Josh graduated from UCLA School of Law, clerked on the Central District of California and the Ninth Circuit, was a trial litigator at the law firm of Munger, Tolles & Olson, and was an appellate litigator at the firm Horvitz & Levy, where he specialized in representing individual and organizational clients in both commercial and civil rights cases, with particular expertise in First Amendment and religious freedom issues.

Tim McMahan King

Timothy McMahan Kingis a writer, senior fellow for clergy for a New Drug Policy, and the owner of Vagabond Strategies. He is the former chief strategy officer for Sojourners and has served as a consultant for national nonprofits, advocacy campaigns, and political candidates. The author of Addiction Nation: What the Opioid Crisis Reveals About Us (Herald Press, 2019), he is an active advocate for those in recovery and to reform United States drug policy. His second book, What Are Drugs For? is forthcoming with Fortress Press. He has written widely for national publications, including The Wall Street Journal and CNN.

Elly Moseson

Elly Moseson is Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America. He holds a B.A. in English Literature from Columbia University and a Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Boston University. He has served as a Visiting Professor at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research, taught at Columbia University, Queens College and Hebrew College, and held postdoctoral positions at Columbia University, Haifa University, Tel Aviv University and the University of Hamburg. His research interests include early modern Jewish movements and literatures, magic in Jewish history and culture, and the intersection of literature, psychoanalysis and religion.

Sharday Musorinjohn

Dr. Sharday Mosurinjohn, PhD is Associate Professor in the School of Religion at Queen’s University, Kingston ON, where she researches and teaches on esotericism, spirituality, and new religious movements, with a focus on psychedelics. Her first book is The Spiritual Significance of Overload Boredom (2022; McGill-Queen’s University Press). Recent essays have been on developing a psychedelic theodicy for “bad trips,” correcting the myth that the ancient mysteries were psychedelic, rethinking the role of entropy in psychedelic experience, exposing how the psychedelic mysticism concept is divorced from mystic practice, making aesthetic relationship to psychedelic plants and fungi, and detailing the psychedelic mechanisms of certain new technologies such as virtual reality, such as “ecstasy” in Burning Man VR. Dr. Mosurinjohn is involved in a number of academic and other organizations, including as a founding member of the Human Augmentation Research Network, steering committee member of the Drugs and Religion Unit at the American Academy of Religion, former Director of Research at the Psychedelic Association of Canada, and new member of Connected Minds.

Adena Phillips

Adena is a strategy consultant, facilitator, executive coach, and spiritual guide dedicated to helping individuals and organizations align with their purpose. As the founder and CEO of Rhizome Partners, she supports companies in scaling, adapting to change, and fostering purposeful leadership. She also designs and leads gatherings that bring people together for meaningful dialogue and transformation. With 20 years experience working with organizations from Google to Pfizer to faith-based institutions, her work spans emergent issues such as the Future of Work, Black Economic Empowerment in South Africa, nuclear fusion, and AI. She also coaches rabbis and has helped leading Jewish institutions navigate complex and divisive challenges. Raised in an Orthodox Jewish community, Adena’s spiritual journey has led her to embrace a broader spectrum of traditions. Her passion project, Ki-mu.org, integrates Jewish wisdom with mindfulness and plant medicine, creating transformative experiences and reimagining rituals for an inclusive audience of seekers.

Rev. Hunt Priest

A priest in The Episcopal Church, the Rev. Hunt Priest was a participant in the Johns Hopkins/New York University Religious Professionals study. His encounters with psilocybin opened him to the healing and consciousness-raising power of sacred plants and fungi and their connection to his own Christian practice. The epiphanies forever changed the trajectory of his work and led him to start Ligare: A Christian Psychedelic Society. Ligare networks with psychedelic researchers, mental health clinicians, spiritual guides and teachers, healers, philanthropists and people of goodwill, regardless of creed, to co-create a movement of healing and wholeness. Striving for justice and peace among all people, Ligare grounds its work in the Christian contemplative tradition and is committed to seeking and serving Christ in all persons, loving our neighbors as ourselves.

Fayzan Rab

Fayzan is a Muslim-American, MD candidate, and psychedelic researcher. His passion is bringing together Eastern wisdom with Western science for the advancement of human potential and healing. Fayzan's research and TEDx talk (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4lxlZBYHjY) focuses on attitudes Muslims have towards new treatment modalities like psychedelic-assisted therapy with a focus on what would be necessary to bridge these innovations with religious and cultural minorities. Fayzan started his career in Silicon Valley as a product leader at Google and Mindstrong Health. He subsequently served as a political organizer for Muslims in the Bay Area. Beyond his research, Fayzan is an executive coach working primarily with minorities who are looking to improve their leadership and presence. He lives in Atlanta with his fiancée, Shua, and their cat, Bella.

John Rapp

John Rapp is an Entheist lawyer, ethicist, advocate and teacher. He protects and connects psychonauts.

Yosef Rosen

Dr. Yosef Rosen is the Director of Jewish Life & Learning at the Jewish Federation of Greater Portland (OR). A recipient of a doctorate in Jewish Studies (UC Berkeley), Yosef works at the intersection of Jewish education and community-building. His current scholarship focuses on the social history of early-modern Ashkenazi magic. His public workshops merge what modern society often keeps separate: the contemporary and the ancient, the academic and the experiential, the religious and the secular, the spiritual and the somatic. He is also an instructor with the Aleph Ordination Program, where he trains future Jewish leaders to cultivate spiritual practices rooted in the history of Jewish mysticism.

Sam Shonkoff

Sam Shonkoff is the Taube Family Assistant Professor of Jewish Studies at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley. His scholarship focuses on the history of Jewish spirituality and methods in the study of religion. He coedited _Hasidism: Writings on Devotion, Community, and Life in the Modern World_ (Brandeis University Press), and his recent articles include “Child Mind in Hasidic Spirituality,” “‘We Shall Do and We Shall Understand’: Embodied Theology in Modern Judaism,” “Gender in Martin Buber’s Hasidic Tales,” and “What the Study of Religion Can Teach Us about Psychedelics.” His current book project is tentatively titled _Embodied Theology: Reading Buber Reading Hasidism_. He has collaborated with the Berkeley Center for the Science of Psychedelics and served as lead instructor for “Psychedelics and Religion,” a digital learning series featuring scholars from the GTU and UC Berkeley. Shonkoff taught formerly at Oberlin College and holds a PhD from the University of Chicago.

Charles Stang

Charles M. Stang is Professor of Early Christian Thought and Director of the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School. The CSWR’s “Transcendence and Transformation” initiative includes research and programming on the intersection of psychedelics, religion, and spirituality, including an annual conference, workshops, speaker series, walking tours, and more. The CSWR is part of the wider Harvard Study of Psychedelics in Society and Culture, and in that capacity works closely with our partners the Petrie-Flom Center at HLS and the Mahindra Humanities Center.

Elliot Wolfson

Elliot R. Wolfson, a Fellow of the American Academy of Jewish Research and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, is the Marsha and Jay Glazer Endowed Chair in Jewish Studies and Distinguished Professor of Religion Emeritus at University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the author of many publications including most recently The Duplicity of Philosophy’s Shadow: Heidegger, Nazism and the Jewish Other (2018); Heidegger and Kabbalah: Hidden Gnosis and the Path of Poiēsis (2019); Suffering Time: Philosophical, Kabbalistic, and Ḥasidic Reflections on Temporality (2021); The Philosophical Pathos of Susan Taubes: Between Nihilism and Hope (2023); and Nocturnal Seeing: Hopelessness of Hope and Philosophical Gnosis in Susan Taubes, Gillian Rose, and Edith Wyschogrod (2025).

Matthew Zorn

Matthew Zorn is a highly respected litigator with considerable experience in the psychedelics and cannabis space. He routinely assists clients in challenges to DEA proposed rules, among other issues.

Symposium Participants

Robert Ansin

Two passions have always driven Massachusetts-born entrepreneur Robert Ansin: to innovate and to give back. After attending three life-changing psilocybin retreats in Jamaica, he was inspired to establish a private charitable foundation, Healing Hearts Changing Minds. Ansin now wants to give others the opportunity to process their own traumas and unpack the roots of their mental health problems―and then go back to their communities to spread the healing. Robert’s family is also a foundational inspiration for creating Healing Hearts Changing Minds. The organization focused its initial funding on future facilitators from the LGBTQIA+ communities. Robert's connection with this community traces back to his childhood in the 1970s when his father, Ron, came out as bisexual. Ron later became a prominent advocate and philanthropist within the gay community. Robert is also the proud father of two children, Indigo and Olly. Robert has gained valuable insights for this work by supporting Indigo on their gender affirmation journey.

David Barnhart, Jr.

David Barnhart, Jr. is an Associate Licensed Counselor at Behavioral Sciences of Alabama. He is also the founding pastor of Saint Junia United Methodist Church. He was a participant in the Johns Hopkins study of psilocybin and mystical experiences in 2018, and is trained in ketamine-assisted psychotherapy through the Polaris Insight Center in San Francisco. He has a B.A. from Oglethorpe University, an M.Div. from Candler School of Theology, a Ph.D. in homiletics and social ethics from Vanderbilt University, and an M.A. in Mental Health Counseling from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He has been an ordained elder in the North Alabama Conference of the United Methodist Church since 2003. His most recent book is Church Comes Home (Abingdon, 2020). His blog, books, and devotional collections can be found at davebarnhart.net and thisistheday.beehiiv.com. He lives in Huntsville, Alabama with his wife, son, and eight chickens.

I. Glenn Cohen

Glenn is the James A. Attwood and Leslie Williams Professor of Law and Deputy Dean at Harvard Law School and the Faculty Director, Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law Policy, Biotechnology & Bioethics. He is an election member of the National Academy of Medicine. He is the author or editor of more than 20 books and more than 250 articles or book chapters in leading medical, science, public health, bioethics, and law journals. He is the principal investigator on the Project on Psychedelics Law and Regulation (POPLAR) at Harvard Law School.

Hadar Cohen

Hadar Cohen is an Arab Jewish scholar, mystic and artist whose work focuses on multi-religious spirituality, politics, social issues, and community building. She is the founder of Malchut, a spiritual skill-building school teaching Jewish mysticism and direct experience of God. She teaches and consults in a variety of settings and formats, from one-on-one coaching to online group classes and in-person retreats. Her podcast, Hadar’s Web, features community conversations on spirituality, healing, justice, and art. Hadar is a 10th-generation Jerusalemite with lineage roots also in Syria, Kurdistan, Iraq and Iran. Subscribe to her Substack for access to her latest writings, offerings, and media appearances.

Rick Doblin

Rick Doblin, Ph.D., is the Founder and President of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). He received his doctorate in Public Policy from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, where he wrote his dissertation on the regulation of the medical uses of psychedelics and marijuana and his Master’s thesis on a survey of oncologists about smoked marijuana vs. the oral THC pill in nausea control for cancer patients. His undergraduate thesis at New College of Florida was a 25-year follow-up to the classic Good Friday Experiment, which evaluated the potential of psychedelic drugs to catalyze religious experiences. He also conducted a thirty-four year follow-up study to Timothy Leary’s Concord Prison Experiment. Rick studied with Dr. Stanislav Grof and was among the first to be certified as a Holotropic Breathwork practitioner. His professional goal is to help develop legal contexts for the beneficial uses of psychedelics and marijuana, primarily as prescription medicines but also for personal growth for otherwise healthy people, and eventually to become a legally licensed psychedelic therapist. He founded MAPS in 1986, and currently resides in Boston with his wife and puppy, with three empty rooms from his children who have all graduated college and begun their life journeys.

Andrew Dunn

Andrew is a student and interstitionary at the intersection of human development and social entrepreneurship, currently building School of Wise Innovation to support visionaries in living, working, and creating with greater alignment. Before serving as Innovation Lead at Center for Humane Technology, Andrew spent over 10 years in early stage startup operations, most notably with the pioneering Public Benefit Corporation Siempo while they developed an award-winning open source humane smartphone interface. He's a nomad who weaves across many lands and paths and subcultures, including Judaism and medicinal plants.

Paul Gillis-Smith

Paul Gillis-Smith is a program lead of the Psychedelics and Spirituality program at the Center for the Study of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School. He is an HDS alum (M.Div '24) whose research has focused on the history of psychiatry as it relates to psychedelic medicine and chaplaincy. Paul was the inaugural student chaplain of HDS' ketamine chaplaincy program at Brigham and Women's Faulkner Hospital. He co-produced the Harvard Psychedelic Walking Tour, co-facilitated the CSWR's first reading group on psychedelics and religion, and he co-organizes the CSWR's annual conference on psychedelics.

George H. Grant

Dr. Grant, a psychologist and an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church, is the Executive Director for Spiritual Health in the Woodruff Health Sciences Center at Emory University. He is responsible for the education of spiritual health clinicians, the service of spiritual health to patients and staff across Emory Healthcare and a scientific research arm driving evidence-based outcomes. Dr. Grant also serves as Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Emory Center for Psychedelics and Spirituality.

Joe Green

Joe Green is the co-founder and President of the Psychedelic Science Funders Collaborative (PSFC). In addition to his work with PSFC, Joe is the chairman and co-founder of Treehouse, which builds co-living communities in Los Angeles. Treehouse’s mission is to create homes that foster authentic connection and supportive relationships. Joe is a social entrepreneur who has spent his career addressing significant challenges by marrying technology with community organizing. Joe co-founded Causes, which empowered more than 100 million people to make an impact; NationBuilder, a leading software provider for organizers; and FWD.us, which mobilized the tech community around immigration and criminal justice reform.

Dan Grossman

Dan Grossman is Chief Field Building Officer at the Psychedelic Science Funders Collaborative (PSFC), a non-profit membership organization for philanthropists seeking to advance equitable access to safe psychedelic healing for all who can benefit. In this role, Dan serves as an adviser to PSFC members, conducting research and analysis to help donors maximize the impact of their giving in alignment with their personal goals. Previously, Dan was a Managing Director & Senior Partner in the Health Care Practice Area of Boston Consulting Group, where he advised leaders of global pharmaceutical and medical device companies on development and commercialization of new-to-world therapies in areas of high unmet medical need.

Rabbi Lila Kagedan

Rabbi Lila Kagedan is a clergy person, ethicist, mediator and educator working in academic, pastoral and clinical settings. She is a Shalom Hartman Institute senior rabbinic fellow and a Hadassah Brandeis Institute-Gender, Culture, Religion and Law Research Associate. Kagedan was ordained in 2015 by Yeshivat Maharat where she became the first Orthodox woman to claim the title rabbi and served until recently as the rabbi of the Walnut Street Synagogue in Chelsea, MA. Kagedan, is the Dean of Ethics and Professionalism at New York Medical College School of Medicine where she also holds the Alfred E. Smith institute on Human Values chair. She sits on the ethics committee at Westchester Medical Center as well as Cambridge Health Alliance where she serves as an ethicist and chaplain. She consults nationally and internationally on matters of bioethics as well as bioethics and Jewish law. Kagedan also holds appointments at the New York Medical College School of Health Sciences and Practice and the Touro School of Dental.

David Zvi Kalman

David Zvi Kalman is a research fellow at the Shalom Hartman Institute, a senior advisor at Sinai and Synapses, and the host of Belief in the Future, a podcast about religion and technology. He is the owner of Print-O-Craft Press, a publishing house focused on cutting edge Jewish books. He blogs at Jello Menorah. His current book project, on Jewish futurism, examines the frontiers of Jewish thought, including its intersection with psychedelics.

Ethan Nadelmann

Described by Rolling Stone as “the point man” for drug policy reform efforts and “the real drug czar,” Ethan Nadelmann is widely regarded as the outstanding proponent of drug policy reform both in the United States and abroad. He founded and directed first The Lindesmith Center (1994-2000) and then the Drug Policy Alliance (2000-2017).

Roman Palitsky

Roman Palitsky, MDiv, Ph.D. is Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Director of Research Projects in Spiritual Health at Emory University, and he is faculty in the Emory Center for Psychedelics and Spirituality. His research applies a bio-psycho-social-spiritual approach to improving behavioral interventions by ensuring that treatments are responsive to care seekers’ needs, resources, communities, and cultures. His work in psychedelic treatment research reflects these commitments by seeking to make psychedelic therapies rigorous, effective, and accountable to the many patient populations who might benefit from them, and to support those care seekers who may experience adverse effects.

David Sauvage

David Sauvage has been exploring the intersection of Judaism, psychedelics and prophecy. He's also in a deep inquiry around how to bring money into sacred spaces with integrity.

Matthew Sacchet

Dr. Matthew D. Sacchet, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor and the Director of the Meditation Research Program at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Sacchet and his team study advanced meditation: skills, states, and stages of contemplative practice that unfold with mastery and time. He has authored more than 125 publications, presented more than 150 times at conferences and speaker series and been cited more than 8,000 times. He has received support from numerous foundations and repeat awards from the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation. His work has been covered by many major media outlets, including CBS, Forbes, Men’s/Women’s Health, NBC, NPR, Scientific American, TIME, Vox, and The Wall Street Journal, and Forbes named him one of its “30 Under 30.” Dr. Sacchet is an Associate Editor of the leading meditation academic journal Mindfulness.

Erica Siegal

Erica Siegal, LCSW is a psychedelic-assisted psychotherapist, community organizer and harm reduction advocate. She has spent the past 20 years exploring diverse ways to create impactful, connective experiences while increasing community safety and wellness. Erica worked on MDMA-assisted psychotherapy clinical trials from 2014 - 2019 and has spent over a decade providing harm reduction and crisis response services at events and festivals worldwide. In 2019, she founded two organizations, NEST Harm Reduction & Consulting, a California-based mental health practice that provides psychotherapy, outreach, education, and integration services. She recently founded SHINE Collective, a non-profit dedicated to supporting those who have experienced real harm from assault, abuse, neglect, coercion and manipulation within psychedelic communities. Given her years of experience and unique lens on Psychedelia, Erica provides commentary and insight into the risks and potential harms in the mainstreaming of psychedelics into society and culture.

Samantha Rose Stein

Samantha Rose Stein’s artwork is on the home page of this website. Samantha is a truth seeker, and a discerning optimist. She’s developed open source protocols for the digital preservation of history. She’s scaled tech startups to tens of millions of users. She’s predicted the technology globally most likely to shape our future. She is also a painter, and a humanist. Her innovative and critical thinking fuels her pen, and her paintbrush.

Benjamin Summers

Reb Beni is an emergent leader at the intersection between Jewish spiritual leadership and the psychedelic field. He was the first ever intern for Shefa: Jewish Psychedelic Support, helping to develop the integration protocols and expand the reach of Shefa in both Israel and the United States. He recently received private ordination from Rabbi Arthur Green and facilitates integration circles and weekly meditation gatherings in the Cambridge area. He loves Torah, soccer, birds, singing and bass music.

Krista Tippett

Krista Tippett is a Peabody award-winning broadcaster, a National Humanities medalist, and a New York Times bestselling author. She is the creator and host of On Being, which aired on NPR stations across the U.S. for two decades. The On Being podcast, which has a global audience, has been downloaded/played more than 450 million times. Krista grew up in a small town in Oklahoma, attended Brown University, worked in divided Cold War Berlin as a journalist and diplomat, and later received an M.Div from Yale. President Obama awarded her the National Humanities Medal in 2014 for “thoughtfully delving into the mysteries of human existence.” She is the author of three books: Speaking of Faith; Einstein’s God; and Becoming Wise: An Inquiry into the Mystery and Art of Living.

Julie Weitz

Julie Weitz is an artist, writer, and educator who creates embodied, collective experiences of repair by engaging with the wounds and resilience of diasporic culture. Her research-based practice brings figures from Yiddish folklore to life, exploring themes of loss and healing through their interactions with culturally significant sites—particularly those where Yiddish culture was nearly eradicated. A Fulbright Scholar, Weitz has served as a guide for Ashkenazi healing pilgrimages to Poland since 2023. She also co-facilitates Jewish psychedelic ceremonies incorporating Acacia and Syrian Rue.