"Bringing Ayahuasca to North America: Technical and Ethical Challenges"
Presenter: Leanna Standish, NMD
Original Date: July 20, 2024
Dr. Standish will discuss the cultural history of Ayahuasca and recent scientific work towards clinical application of group Ayahuasca-assisted therapy for the treatment of major depression, PTSD and addiction. She will summarize the technical and ethical challenges associated with bringing Ayahuasca to North America and western science.
Bio: Dr. Standish is a neuroscientist and naturopathic physician living and working in Seattle WA. She holds faculty appointments at the University of Washington School of Medicine in the Radiology Department as well as at Bastyr University. She specializes in integrative oncology and neurology. She leads cancer research teams and holds an FDA IND for a phase I clinical trial of ayahuasca, a psychoactive Amazonian tea.
Dr. Standish is board certified in naturopathic oncology. Her research is focused on the Asian medicinal mushroom Trametes versicolor in the treatment of breast and prostate cancer; functional brain imaging in the treatment of brain cancer; and the development of integrative oncology outcomes studies. New projects using IV Resveratrol and IV Curcumin to treat cancer are being developed.
She has provided adjunctive naturopathic medical care to hundreds of cancer patients and has worked collaboratively with Seattle area oncologists to provide integrated conventional/CAM care. A founding board member of the Oncology Association of Naturopathic Physicians, Dr. Standish was board certified in naturopathic oncology in 2006. Her recognition by the oncology community as an expert in naturopathic medicine is evidenced by her being voted one of Seattle’s Best Physicians in the Seattle Metropolitan Magazine in 2002, 2004 and 2008. She has been a member of both the NIH and the Department of Defense study sections for scientific review of CAM
research in cancer. Dr. Standish has served as a CAM oncology advisor to MD Anderson Cancer Center.
NUNM is accredited by the North American Naturopathic Continuing Education Council (NANCEAC). This activity qualifies for 1.0 General, 0.25 Pharmacology, 0.25 Ethics CEUs.