My most memorable experience at McGill involved a study we ran on placebo psychedelic drugs. We booked a conference room at the Neuro and dressed it up like a psychedelic party, with a DJ, tapestries, and paintings. We then recruited a few dozen student participants and gave them an inert pill which we told them was a psychedelic drug. People reported a wide variety of experiences and some were certain that they had taken a psychedelic. The study formed a chapter of my PhD thesis and was later published as an article titled “Tripping on Nothing.”
Throughout my graduate studies at McGill, I have been grateful to have had the latitude and freedom to explore a breadth of research questions. My advisor, Dr. Amir Raz, gave me flexibility to lead a variety of studies, ranging from developing interventions for healthcare fatigue and smartphone addiction to exploring the limits of placebos and suggestion. Ultimately I focused my PhD thesis on the topic of maximizing placebo effects in healthcare. I hope to continue this work to explore the clinical applications of placebos as a safe treatment for symptoms of various disorders.
McGill allowed me to construct my own winding path answering stimulating and practical research questions. You could say it’s been quite a trip.