Staff
Hannah McLane MD, MA, MPH
Dr. Hannah McLane is a physician, psychoanalyst, and entrepreneur. She is the Founder of SoundMind, a Philadelphia and Oregon-based psychedelic facilitator training and research initiative aimed at bringing ethics, equity, and innovation to the psychedelic ecosystem. Dr. McLane identifies as queer, white, able-bodied, and neurodiverse. She grew up in rural New Hampshire and spent several years in South America and East Asia.
Dr. McLane conducts research on cognitive diversity, psychedelic science, ethics, PTSD, and emerging alternative therapies for mental health issues. She is the clinical director of the SoundMind Center, the first psychedelic therapy center in the Philadelphia region, and training director for retreat offerings in Philadelphia, Oregon, and Costa Rica.
She attended McGill University and holds graduate degrees from Temple University (MA, Communication Sciences, Spanish Language), Brown University (MD, Doctor of Medicine, Contemplative Studies Concentration), and Harvard School of Public Health (MPH, Global health and Bioethics). She attended residencies in neurology and Occupational and Environmental medicine (University of Pennsylvania) and completed a fellowship in Patient Safety at the VA Hospital in Philadelphia. She also completed a 5-year psychoanalytic training program and considers herself a relational psychoanalyst.
Richard Watson
Entrepreneur and laboratory professional with 20 years experience. Born in Saint Catharine, Jamaica, Richard immigrated with his family to West Philadelphia, PA in 1986, where his curiosity for science and business blossomed. He attended Masterman High school and then Temple University, where he graduated with a degree in Biology.
As an entrepreneur, He co-founded an at-home genetic testing company for HIV disease progression and Alzheimer's disease risk.
As a laboratory professional at Upenn and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, he managed laboratories conducting research in coronavirus, cell therapy, and gene therapy in pre-clinical and clinical trial settings.
Courtney Hutchison, LSW, MPH
Courtney is a licensed social worker and psychotherapist, and PhD candidate in Social Work. Courtney has been with SoundMind since 2019 and works across the organization’s key areas of work—managing clinical care, facilitator training, and research. She also co-leads ketamine-assisted psychotherapy training retreats at SoundMind’s West Philadelphia center. She holds a Master’s degree in Social Service from Bryn Mawr College, a Master’s degree in Public Health from UC Berkeley, and a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Brown University. She completed her clinical training at University of Pennsylvania’s Counseling and Psychological Services. She specializes in the treatment and research of trauma-related disorders and relationship violence. Earlier in her career, she was a medical journalist and a racial equity policy advocate. A deep appreciation of the systemic forces that shape opportunities for health continue to drive her clinical and research endeavors today.
Belinda Eriacho
Belinda is a healer and leader from the Dine’ (Navajo) and Zuni lineage. She is certified in Integrated Energy Therapy and has advanced degrees in Health Sciences, Public & Occupational Health, and Technology. Through her personal practice and her leadership as a public speaker, Belinda supports the healing of Native Peoples and is helping to guide the Psychedelic Renaissance towards a more holistic perspective.
Advisors
Daniel Wikler, PhD
Professor Dan Wikler is the Director of the Harvard Program in Ethics and Health (PEH). His current research interests are ethical issues in population and international health, including the allocation of health resources. Prior to his time at Harvard, he served as the first Staff Ethicist for the World Health Organization. He also served on the President’s Commission for the Study of Ethical Problems in Medicine in Washington, D.C., as Staff Philosopher for Biomedical and Behavioral Research. He has a particular interest in using simplified dilemmas to highlight the ethical issues involved in global health decision-making.
Rick Doblin, PhD
Rick is the founder and executive director of the Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelic Studies (MAPS). He received his doctorate in Public Policy from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government, where he wrote his dissertation on the regulation of the medical uses of psychedelics and marijuana and his Master's thesis on a survey of oncologists about smoked marijuana vs. the oral THC pill in nausea control for cancer patients. His undergraduate thesis at New College of Florida was a 25-year follow-up to the classic Good Friday Experiment, which evaluated the potential of psychedelic drugs to catalyze religious experiences. He also conducted a thirty-four year follow-up study to Timothy Leary's Concord Prison Experiment. Rick studied with Dr. Stanislav Grof and was among the first to be certified as a Holotropic Breathwork practitioner. His professional goal is to help develop legal contexts for the beneficial uses of psychedelics and marijuana, primarily as prescription medicines but also for personal growth for otherwise healthy people, and eventually to become a legally licensed psychedelic therapist. He founded MAPS in 1986, and currently resides in Boston with his wife, dog, and empty rooms from three children, one of whom is in college and two have graduated.
Yakub Grant
Yakub is one of the original founders of the SoundMind Project, and functions as Director of Operations in Jamaica. He began his studies in design in England and spent almost a decade as a professor of Digital Media Editing at University of the West Indies and Edna Manley College (Kingston, Jamaica). He is firmly rooted in musical creation with a conscious message.
Simeon Schnapper
Simeon Schnapper is the founding Partner of JLS, a plant medicine fund His introduction to psychedelics came 30+ years ago in Chicago where he studied with Dr. Robert E.L. Masters and Jean Huston Ph.D. who authored the seminal book The Varieties of Psychedelic Experience: The Classic Guide to the Effects of LSD on the Human Psyche – one of the most important books written on the effects of LSD on the human psyche. As a curious teenager entering the space, searching for greater meaning in life he quickly learned about all the mental health indications that could be alleviated by coupling these molecules with psychotherapy or protocols millennia old from indigenous cultures. Later, he immersed himself in the Amazon with various ayahuasqueros and syncretic churches which showed him the power and efficacy of plant medicines; now becoming mainstreamed and medicalized. As a life-long student of Psychedelics he a keen awareness of the cultural, regulatory and the nascent venture landscape of the mushrooming industry. As the president of the Hinman Foundation he formulated the vision and led all efforts on the ground in Tibet, Nepal, Myanmar, India, Mongolia and Bhutan. The foundation was able to support community-based organizations in several forest cultures where plant medicines are inseparable from everyday life and also oversaw grants which included a study on the Psychological and Cognitive Effects of Long-Term Peyote Use and the efficacy of hallucinogens for treating substance dependence. Simeon co-founded the High Art Collective in 2008 the world’s first Psychedelic Art Gallery and Marijuana Dispensary praised as a paradigm shift at the very beginning of the end of prohibition. Simeon advises several psychedelic and impact startups, is an Aspen Institute Fellow and a member of the New York Mycology Society. Born into a Peace Corps family, his early life was spent on assignment overseas where the ethos of exploration and helping others became deeply ingrained in his belief system.