Dr. Bryan L. Roth is the Michael Hooker Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and Director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Psychoactive Drug Screening Program, where his work bridges molecular pharmacology, structural biology, and the emerging science of psychedelic agents.

Dr. Roth is internationally recognized for his foundational contributions to G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) pharmacology, including elucidating how hallucinogenic compounds like LSD bind to brain serotonin receptors and advancing efforts to design novel therapeutics that capture the rapid antidepressant effects of psychedelics without hallucinogenic properties—a line of research supported by major grants such as a $26.9 million DARPA initiative. His research has appeared in top journals including Cell, and he has published hundreds of papers advancing understanding of serotonin receptor structure-function relationships and implications for psychiatric treatment.

Dr. Charles L. Raison is a Professor of Human Ecology and Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin-Madison. Dr. Raison also serves as Director of Clinical and Translational Research for Usona Institute, as Director of the Vail Health Behavioral Health Innovation Center, and as Director of Research on Spiritual Health for Emory.Dr. Raison’s research focuses on the examination of novel mechanisms involved in the development and treatment of major depression and other stress-related emotional and physical conditions. He has played central roles in the development of whole body hyperthermia as a treatment for major depression and oversaw some of the world’s first studies showing potential health benefits of compassion training.

More recently, Dr. Raison has taken a leadership role in the development of psychedelic medicines as potential treatments for major depression. He was named one of the world’s most influential researchers by Web of Science for the decade of 2010-2019.

In 2026 he received a Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award from the Washington University School of Medicine. With Vladimir Maletic he is author of “The New Mind-Body Science of Depression” published by W.W. Norton in 2017.

Dr. Gerard Sanacora is the Gross Professor of Psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine, Director of the Yale Depression Research Program, and Co-Director of the Interventional Psychiatry Program at Yale-New Haven Hospital.

His research has employed both preclinical and clinical studies in attempts to expand our understanding of the pathophysiology of mood and neurodegenerative disorders and to use this information in developing new approaches for treating and preventing the disorders. Most recently he has expanded his focus to explore mechanisms of more efficiently and cost effectively bringing nascent, neuroscience informed treatment approaches to clinical practice.

Dr. Sanacora received the Anna-Monkia Stiftung international award for the investigation of the biological substrate and functional disturbances of depression in 2009 and the Joel Elkes Research Award for Outstanding contributions to Psychopharmacology from the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology in 2011, and most recently the 2022 Association for Clinical and Translational Sciences award for Team Science for these efforts.

Dr. Scott Aaronson is the Director of Clinical Research Programs at Sheppard Pratt, where he is the principal investigator for multiple studies on the development of therapies for mood and anxiety disorders. He has particularly been involved with the development of new strategies to alleviate the symptoms in treatment-resistant mood disorders and has published numerous articles on his research including pivotal studies in the use of devices—Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) and Vagus Nerve Stimulation (VNS)—in the treatment of severe refractory mood disorders.

Most recently, he was named the Chief Science Officer of the Sheppard Pratt Institute for Advanced Diagnostics and Therapeutics, focused on the development of uses for psychedelic medications across the spectrum of psychiatric illness.

Dr. Michael E. Thase is a Professor of Psychiatry and Chief of the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Treatment & Research Program at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, and a senior clinical investigator recognized internationally for his work on mood disorders and psychopharmacology.

Dr. Thase’s research has focused on the assessment and treatment of depressive and bipolar disorders, including differential therapeutics and novel pharmacotherapies, and he has authored or co-authored hundreds of scientific articles and several books, shaping evidence-based approaches to complex mood disorders.

He is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, a Founding Fellow of the Academy of Cognitive Therapy, and has held leadership roles in major professional societies centered on clinical psychopharmacology and mood disorder research.

Dr. Mary Elizabeth Bit Yaden is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the Clinical Director of the Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where she contributes to pioneering clinical research and education on psychedelic-assisted therapies.

Dr. Yaden’s work focuses on evidence-based investigation of psilocybin and other psychedelic agents for psychiatric conditions, development of educational curricula in psychedelic medicine, and guiding clinicians in nuanced conversations about emerging therapies, while underscoring both the therapeutic potential and safety considerations of psychedelic-assisted treatments.

Dr. Roger S. McIntyre is a Professor of Psychiatry and Pharmacology at the University of Toronto. He was named by Clarivate Analytics in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023 as one of “The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds”. This distinction is given by publishing the largest number of articles that rank among those most frequently cited by researchers globally in 21 broad fields of science and social science during the previous decade. Dr. McIntyre has authored/co-authored more than 1200 articles/manuscripts and has edited and/or co-edited several textbooks on mood disorders.

Dr. McIntyre is involved in multiple research endeavors which primarily aim to characterize the phenomenology, neurobiology, and novel therapeutics of mood disorders. Dr. McIntyre has been especially interested in identifying innovative, rapid-acting psychotropic treatments for mood disorders. Dr. McIntyre’s research has also extended into public health and implementation research at the population-based level.