| THE BECKLEY FOUNDATION :: Scientific Advisors |

| THE BECKLEY FOUNDATION |

ABOUT US

Scientific Advisors The following distinguished scientists are among those who have kindly agreed to be scientific advisors to the Beckley Foundation. The founding member of the Board was Dr. Albert Hofmann. DR. RONALD SANDISON 1916-2010 B.Sc., M.B., B.S., F.R.C. Psych, A.K.C Consultant Psychiatrist, Psychotherapist and Group Analyst. Consulant psychiatrist at Powick Hospital Worcester, 1952-1964, pioneering the use of LSD and psychedelic drugs as an adjunct to psychotherapy. It is with great sadness and fond memories that The Beckley Foundation pays tribute to Dr. Ronald Sandison who died on June 18th 2010. Dr. Sandison was a member of the Board of Scientific Advisors here at the Beckley Foundation and was a true friend of the organisation. One of his greatest achievements, and one for which he will always be remembered, was his role as a pioneer in the use of LSD as a therapeutic tool in British psychotherapy. When Dr. Sandison arrived at The Powick Hospital in 1951, the conditions in the former 'lunatic asylum' were poor and the treatments harsh. After turning the facility around and having visited Albert Hofmann in Switzerland in 1952, Sandison began using LSD as an adjunct to traditional psychotherapy. Over the next twelve years, Sandison treated thousands of patients suffering from depression and neurosis with LSD. The project was so successful that in 1955, a government-funded, purpose built LSD unit was established at Powick. Unfortunately, the banning of the drug in 1966 and the accompanying moral panic would lead to the eventual end of this experiment in therapeutic use. By 1964, Sandison was ready to move on and left Powick. He was disheartened by the prohibition of a drug he viewed as having great potential to help people and remained convinced of its therapeutic value for the rest of his life. In later life, Dr. Sandison was generous in lending his time and expertise to organisations like The Beckley Foundation and MAPS. We would like to honour his memory by carrying on the important work of psychedelic research, in the hope that one day LSD and other drugs can once again be part of the toolkit in treating mental illness. Amanda Feilding, Director of the Beckley Foundation. Scientific Advisors

PROF. COLIN BLAKEMORE FMedSci Hon FRCP FRS		Professor of Neuroscience University of Oxford. Former Chief Executive of the Medical Research Council (MRC). Waynflete Professor of Physiology, University of Oxford. Director of the Oxford Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience. Chairman of the British Association for the Advancement of Science.

PROF. GUSTAV BORN M.A., D.Phil., F.R.C.P., F.R.S., F.K.C.		Emeritus Professor of Pharmacology, London University. Professor at the William Harvey Research Institute, St. Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College. He has had a distinguished career in cardiovascular research.

PROF. MARK GEYER Ph.D.		Professor of Psychiatry and Neurosciences, University of California, San Diego. Director of the Basic Neuroscience Unit of the Mental Illness Research, Clinical, and Education Center. President and Fellow of the International Behavioural Neuroscience Society. Vice-President of the International Serotonin Club. Member of the Scientific Council of NARSAD.

PROF. LESTER GRINSPOON M.D.		Associate Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Served 40 years as Senior Psychiatrist at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center in Boston. Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the American Psychiatric Association. Founding editor of the Annual Review of Psychiatry and the Harvard Mental Health Letter.


PROF. LESLIE L. IVERSEN Ph.D., F.R.S.		Visiting Professor of Pharmacology, University of Oxford and Current Chair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD). Director of the Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Diseases at King's College, University of London. Previously, Director of the Neuroscience Research Centre of Merck Research Laboratories, and Director of the MRC Neurochemical Pharmacology Unit in Cambridge.

PROF. YURI E. MOSKALENKO Ph.D.		Head of the Laboratory of Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences. Doctor of Sciences, Professor of Physiology, Honour Scientist of The Russian Federation, Academician of International Astronautics Academy, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences.

PROF. DAVE E. NICHOLS Ph.D.		Professor of Medicinal Chemistry and Pharmacology, Purdue University, USA. Previous member of numerous NIH, NIMH and NIDA advisory groups. Currently serving on the NIMH Neuropharmacology and Neurochemistry Study Section. Fellow of the Academy of Pharmaceutical Sciences and American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists.

PROF. DAVID NUTT M.D., F.R.C.P., F.R.C.Psych., F.Med.Sci.		Head of Neurophyshopharmacology at Imperial College London and Chair of the Independent Scientific Committee on Drugs, President of the European College of Neuro-Psychopharmacology (ECNP). Former Chair of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD). Editor of the Journal of Psychopharmacology.

PROF. VILAYANUR S. RAMACHANDRAN M.D., Ph.D.		Director of the Centre for Brain and Cognition and Professor with the Psychology Department and the Neuroscience Program at the University of California, San Diego. Adjunct Professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California. Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford, the Neurosciences Institute in La Jolla, and the Institute for Advanced Studies in Behavioural Sciences at Stanford. Gave the BBC Reith lectures in 2003.

PROF. TREVOR ROBBINS Ph.D.		Professorial Fellow in Cognitive Neuroscience & Head of Experimental Psychology Department, University of Cambridge.

DR. RONALD SANDISON B.Sc., M.B., B.S., F.R.C. Psych, A.K.C		Consultant Psychiatrist, Psychotherapist and Group Analyst. Consulant psychiatrist at Powick Hospital Worcester, 1952-1964, pioneering the use of LSD and psychedelic drugs as an adjunct to psychotherapy.

DR. ALEXANDER SHULGIN Ph.D.		Pharmacologist, chemist and psychoactive drug researcher. Author of, 'PIHKAL' and 'TIHKAL" after receiving DEA backing to synthesise and test the effects of an extensive range of psychoactive substances.

PROF. ANDRE TYLEE M.B.B.S., M.D., F.R.C.G.P., M.R.C.Psych.		Professor of Primary Care Mental Health, Institute of Psychiatry and King's College, University of London. Founded the RCGP Mental Health Unit at the Institute of Psychiatry. Advisor to the World Health Organisation.