UW Medicine is a leader in research and clinical care for those struggling with addiction. We bring together experts with decades of experience across multiple disciplines to accelerate novel therapeutics in addiction psychiatry that could have a huge impact on public health.
Center Leadership
Nathan Sackett, MD, MS
Nathan Sackett, MD, MS, is the co-Director of the Center for Novel Therapeutics in Addiction Psychiatry and Acting Assistant Professor in the University of Washington Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences. His focus is on the intersection between substance use and psychiatric disorders and the use of psychedelics to treat substance use disorders with a particular interest in how psychedelics can augment the psychotherapeutic process and facilitate behavioral change.
Darron T. Smith, PhD, PA-C
Darron T. Smith, PhD, PA-C, is the co-Director of the Center for Novel Therapeutics in Addiction Psychiatry. He has accepted a faculty position at the University of Washington in the Department of Family Medicine/MEDEX PA Program. He is a physician assistant and US Army veteran with over twenty years of healthcare-related experience as a PA educator and mental health treatment provider. Dr. Smith has trained with MAPS’ MDMA-assisted therapy program. His research and scholarship examine US-based systems of racial oppression and systemic inequality found in all societal domains, including healthcare, the family (transracial adoption), healthcare disparities, religion, sport, culture, and politics. Dr. Smith’s current research and practice intertwine the study of applied neuroscience, race-based trauma, and mental illness by looking at the impact of EEG biofeedback versus MDMA-assisted psychotherapy on brainwave activity in individuals with racial trauma (PTSD) using EEG technology. Dr. Smith is a member of the Board of Directors at the American Psychedelic Prescribers Association. He also serves as Director of Education for the Alma Institute, a Measure 109 Oregon-based Psilocybin training facility. He also serves on Chacruna’s Racial Equity and Access Committee.
Center Staff
Andie Uomoto, MPA
Andie received a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Washington’s Evans School of Public Policy and Governance. She has significant experience in implementing research and training projects, collaborations and initiatives.
Community Advisory Board
Galyn Burke, LMFT, LMHC
Galyn Burke, LMFT, LMHC, is a trauma therapist, integrating cognitive, somatic, and energetic modalities with indigenous wisdom (tailored to the needs of western clients, with permission from the lineage holders). Galyn is a graduate of Brown University and holds a Master’s Degree in Counseling from Palo Alto University, with extensive post-graduate training in emerging trauma therapies, including Brainspotting, MDMA Assisted Psychotherapy (via MAPS ) and Ketamine Assisted Psychotherapy (via Polaris Insights Center).
Darcy Constans, MD
Darcy Constans, MD, is a family medicine physician practicing in Seattle. She has a specific interest in mindfulness, addiction medicine, mental health and psychedelic medicine.
Karin Gagnon
Karin has conducted educational and transformational programs throughout the U.S., India, and Europe for more than three decades. She is the co-founder of The WISDOM Council (Women in Service Deepening Our Mission), Program Director for Experiential Training/Learning at SNaP lab, (Social Neuroscience and Psychopathology) at the Oregon Health Science University, and contributes as an advisor and mentor to a number of other non-profit organizations in her community.
Pamela Kryskow, MD
Dr. Pamela Kryskow is a Canadian MD, researcher, therapist and academic. She is the medical lead for the Roots To Thrive Psychedelic Assisted Therapy Non Profit, a professor in the Vancouver Island University Psychedelic Assisted Therapy and a founding board member of the Psychedelic Association of Canada.
Will MacHugh
Will MacHugh is a farmer from Albany, Oregon and Eltopia, Washington. His interest in mental health comes from an interest in building better tools for those involved in addiction treatments.
Ian T. Pocock, LICSW
Ian T. Pocock, LICSW, is a third-wave mindfulness therapist in private practice, offering individual psychotherapy and ketamine-assisted therapy. Ian’s background and training is in the treatment and study of chemical dependency, serious mental illness, trauma-informed care, and psychedelics.
John Rapp, JD
John Rapp, JD, is a practicing trial lawyer, ethics expert, graduate instructor, seminar producer, and plant medicine activist. He is active in his entheist Church, the Sacred Garden Community.
Erica Siegal, LCSW
Erica Siegal, LCSW, is a psychedelic-assisted psychotherapist, harm reduction educator, and community organizer based in Southern California. She has spent the past decade providing mental health crisis support and harm reduction outreach to transformational festivals and gatherings throughout the United States and the world, including Costa Rica, Mexico, and Italy. She founded NEST Harm Reduction in 2019 to provide harm reduction-based comprehensive care to individuals, couples and communities.
Paul Stamets
Paul Stamets is a speaker, author, mycologist, medical researcher and entrepreneur, is considered an intellectual and industry leader in fungi: habitat, medicinal use, and production. He is the author of seven books, an invention ambassador for the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and was inducted into The Explorer’s Club in 2020. He has received numerous awards, including the National Mycologist Award (2013) from the North American Mycological Association (NAMA), the Gordon and Tina Wasson Award (2015) from the Mycological Society of America (MSA), and The Disruptor Award from Nextmed (2023). A new psilocybin species has been recently named after him, Psilocybe stametsii. He was featured as a guide in Louie Schwartzberg’s 2019 documentary Fantastic Fungi and his work with mycelium became a central theme in the new Star Trek Discovery series on CBS that includes an astromycologist character named Lt. Commander Paul Stamets.
Todd Youngs
Todd has been in long-term recovery from addiction and alcoholism since 2009. He works intensively with others to help them achieve a life of satisfying and meaningful sobriety. His approach is eclectic and holistic. It draws from a diversity of modalities including 12 Steps, CBT, MI, and Mindfulness practice to deeply address the bio/psycho/social/spiritual aspects of addictive disorders. Todd has worked extensively with Ayahuasca for over 13 years within a variety of communal and personalized settings.
Scientific Advisory Board
Andrew Bowdle, MD, PhD, FASE
Andrew Bowdle MD, PhD, FASE, is a cardiac anesthesiologist, patient safety expert and clinical pharmacologist. He is Professor of Anesthesiology and Pharmaceutics (Adjunct) and Laura Cheney Professor in Anesthesia Patient Safety at the University of Washington.
Jonathan Buchholz, MD
Jonathan Buchholz, MD, is an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Program Director of the Addictions Psychiatry Fellowship and Medical Director of Inpatient Psychiatry at the VA Puget Sound.
Beatriz Carlini, PhD, MPH
Beatriz Carlini, PhD, MPH, is an Acting Associate Professor at the University of Washington Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences. She is the Director of the Cannabis Research and Education Program at the Addictions, Drug & Alcohol Institute.
Kevin Hallgren, PhD
Kevin Hallgren, PhD, is an Associate Professor at the University of Washington Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences. His research interests focus on the assessment and treatment of substance use and mental health disorders.
Rebecca Hendrickson, MD, PhD
Rebecca Hendrickson, MD, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences. Her research group studies the pathophysiology and treatment of PTSD and its complex comorbidities, including addiction and traumatic brain injury.
Sheri Mizumori, PhD
Sheri Mizumori, PhD, is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Psychology at the University of Washington. The Mizumori laboratory investigates the neural circuits that mediate cognitive and behavioral flexibility, or the ability to act on perceived changes in a given situation. Of particular interest are the neural mechanisms that underlie the cognitive distortions during opiate withdrawal, and the subsequent restoration of cognitive flexibility following administration of hallucinogens such as psilocybin.
Richard Ries, MD, FAPA, FASM
Richard Ries, MD, FAPA, FASM, is a Professor at the University of Washington Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and Clinical Director of Addictions Treatment Services at Harborview Medical Center. He works in psychiatric rehabilitation and recovery services.
Andrew J. Saxon, MD
Andrew Saxon, MD, is a Professor at the University of Washington Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and Director of the Center of Excellence in Substance Addiction Treatment and Education (CESATE) at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System. His expertise is in addiction psychiatry.
Rick Strassman, MD
The DMT and psilocybin studies by Rick Strassman, MD, at the University of New Mexico in the early 1990s initiated the American renewal of clinical research with psychedelics. He is the author of the best-selling “DMT: The Spirit Molecule,” which chronicles that project.