ECNP Podcast — more information

Episode title: Psychedelic research: the what, why and how

Interviewee: Kim Kuypers, The Netherlands
Kim PC Kuypers is affiliated as an associate professor with Maastricht University, faculty of psychology and neuroscience where she obtained her Ph.D. in 2007. Her research has three pillars. The main goal is to understand the neurobiology underlying flexible cognition, empathy and well-being. To accomplish this goal she use a psychopharmacological model, studying the acute, sub-acute, and longer lasting effects of psychedelics on these behaviours and biology. Next to that, she also conducts survey research to understand the motives underlying psychedelic use, and the experienced effects, and use patterns. Lastly, she develops new paradigms to study cognitive flexibility and empathy in a more ecologically valid way. Her future research efforts will go into conceptualizing online tools to assess aforementioned behaviour in daily life and determining biological markers of positive responses to psychedelics. She wants to focus on ‘small data’ and precision medicine.

Interviewer: Ilse Graat, The Netherlands
Ilse Graat is a psychiatric resident and researcher at the Amsterdam University Medical Centers. In 2022 she obtained her PhD at the University of Amsterdam. Her research focusses on the use of deep brain stimulation for patients with refractory psychiatric disorders, mainly focusing on patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. She is a member of the Early Career Academy Board of the ECNP.