Throughout time, adolescent rites of passage have often included experimentation with altered states. In the age of psychedelic expansion where access to these substances has proliferated, very little research has been conducted on the psychological impacts for this age group. This past June, researchers Nadhrah Izmi and Hannes Kettner, along with Robin Carhart-Harris, published the first study of its kind on the topic in the journal Frontiers, titled "Psychological effects of psychedelics in adolescents."  Through online surveys, they asked participants about their subjective experiences with psychedelics, side effects and long-term psychological effects. In this hour-long live webinar, Plant Parenthood will dive into their findings, the challenges behind conducting such research and ask their hopes and predictions for the future implications. The webinar will be facilitated by Rebecca and Andrew, and will include time for Q&A. Join us on October 18 at 11 AM EDT.

About the researchers:

Hannes Kettner (he/him) is a Ph.D. student at the Imperial College Centre for Psychedelic Research, where he has designed and coordinated several large-scale observational survey studies over the past five years investigating psychedelic use in naturalistic settings.Under the supervision of Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris, he launched the Psychedelic Ceremony Study, which has yielded the largest dataset to date prospectively following participants in guided psychedelic sessions. Working closely with psychedelic practitioners during this project, Hannes became interested in the question how real-world psychedelic use can be systematically assessed in order to inform harm-reduction and benefit-maximization strategies for clinical and non-clinical settings. His work includes over 40 co-authored publications in peer-reviewed journals, many of which have been featured in major media outlets.Hannes holds a MSc in Cognitive and Clinical Neuroscience from Maastricht University and is currently living and working in the San Francisco Bay Area as a Visiting Research Scholar at the UCSF Neuroscape Psychedelics Division.

Nadhrah Izmi (she/her) holds an MSc in Translational Neuroscience from Imperial College London, specialising in computational neuroscience and statistical analysis, and a BSc in Biomedical Sciences from King’s College London. Under the supervision of Hannes Kettner and Dr. Robin Carhart-Harris, she conducted a comprehensive analysis of the effects of psychedelics on adolescents aged 16-24, culminating in a thesis published in Frontiers in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in 2024. Nadhrah is currently based in London as a Data & AI Consultant at Accenture, where she leverages her expertise in data analytics and AI across diverse sectors, including healthcare, pharmaceuticals, and finance. Her research interests focus on the intersection of neuroscience, mental health, and data science, with a particular emphasis on the impact of psychedelics on younger populations.