This talk is part of the Michigan Psychedelic Center's 2026 Seminar Series: Psychedelics — From Cells to Society. Learn more about the series at https://michiganpsychedelic.med.umich.edu/education-events/.

About the Talk:
Fueled by positive findings from clinical trials, psychedelic research has returned to mainstream psychiatry and neuroscience, with a growing number of studies examining a wide range of conditions. However, expectancy effects and effective condition blinding have been raised as critical limitations to the interpretability of this research.

In this talk, Jacob Aday, PhD, will review the many methodological challenges of conducting psychedelic clinical trials and provide recommendations for improving the rigor of future research.

About the Presenter:
Jacob S. Aday, PhD, is a Research Assistant Professor in the Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center as well as the Michigan Psychedelic Center at the University of Michigan. His research interests are focused on improving research methodology and safety with psychedelics, evaluating individual differences in treatment outcomes, and assessing the potential use of psychedelic-assisted therapies for chronic pain populations.