51³Ô¹ÏÍø

CIPPRes is an umbrella name covering 4 different activities: A Centre, a Clinic, a Consortium, and a Conference.  The four together represent our breadth of work on the topics of Interventional Psychiatry and Psychedelic Research.

• The 51³Ô¹ÏÍø CIPPRes = The 51³Ô¹ÏÍø Centre for Interventional Psychiatry and Psychedelic Research. The Centre is based at at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø College’s Hammersmith Hospital campus - formerly named: the 51³Ô¹ÏÍø Centre for Psychedelic Research.

• The CIPPRes Clinic at St Charles: The Clinic for Interventional Psychiatry and Psychedelic Research, based at CNWL NHS Foundation Trust’s St Charles Hospital Campus.

• The NHS CIPPRes Consortium: a clinical-academic hub for translation of psychedelic research into NHS practice.

• The CIPPRes Conference: A new (or re-shaped) international conference on the topic, first conference to take place March 2027 in Oxford.

See below sections for more details about all four CIPPRes. 

The CENTRE: 51³Ô¹ÏÍø CIPPRes

The 51³Ô¹ÏÍø Centre for Interventional Psychiatry and Psychedelic Research (formerly the 51³Ô¹ÏÍø Centre for Psychedelic Research) has, for the last two decades, been spearheading psychedelic research in the United Kingdom - hereunder conducting landmark clinical trials that kick-started global efforts to develop psilocybin therapy into a licensed treatment for depression. 

Led and co-founded by and  (initially together with , now at USCF), 51³Ô¹ÏÍø CIPPRes focuses on the use of psychedelics in mental healthcare; The Centre conducts experimental psychopharmacology, specifically investigating the effects of classic and non-classic psychedelics in healthy and psychiatric populations. By using cutting-edge methods such as molecular (i.e. PET), electrophysiological (i.e. EEG), and structural & functional (i.e. MRI/fMRI) brain imaging techniques, the team seeks to uncover these compounds' therapeutic potential and neuromechanisms.

After promising results in the treatment of major and treatment-resistant depression, anorexia nervosa, chronic pain and obsessive-compulsive disorder; the Centre is now bridging expertise between CIPPRes and the Division of Psychiatry’s addiction team via, allowing for the launch of psychedelic trials in addiction. An experimental medicine study using MRI and EEG is planned for psilocybin in Gambling Disorder and a two-staged NIHR-funded psilocybin therapy trial, also using MRI, in Opioid Use Disorder are underway.

Beyond these trials, 51³Ô¹ÏÍø CIPPRes continues to study neuromechanisms of psychedelics more broadly - in a new series of studies in combination with non-invasive brain stimulation, which sees the Centre join forces with the Interventional Systems Neuroscience group led by .

51³Ô¹ÏÍø CIPPRes and the CIPPRes Clinic at St Charles are staffed by researchers, data analysts, medics, psychologists/therapists, and support staff. Moreover, 51³Ô¹ÏÍø CIPPRes' collaborative activities with the NHS allow for unique research training opportunities for trainees and other staff in CNWL and West London NHS Trusts and an important exchange of knowledge between academics and clinicians.

The CLINIC: CIPPRes Clinic at St Charles

CIPPRes Clinic at St Charles was set up in 2021 as collaborative initiative between ,  the 51³Ô¹ÏÍø CIPPRes, and  the broader Division of Psychiatry. Led by David Erritzoe, the CIPPRes Clinic at St Charles aims to bring research of novel interventions into an NHS setting. The clinic initially hosted 51³Ô¹ÏÍø-sponsored studies in healthy individuals (testing ketamine mechanisms of actions using PET-MRI-EEG) and patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder, OCD (testing clinical effects and measures of flexibility after a single 10 mg dose of psilocybin in adults with OCD).

More recently, the CIPPRes clinic at St Charles has transitioned into a hub for the development of translational aspects of the work with psychedelic therapies, hereunder initiatives to help prepare the NHS-based staff, navigating and working with existing care structures whilst also closing an important treatment gap, in particular for individuals where first-line treatments (e.g. for depression) haven’t worked sufficiently.  A new clinical service pilot program provides access for Trust patients to ketamine assisted therapy.

In the  first iteration of this program, we are piloting a new treatment model named CIM-KeT ( =  CNWL–Imperial–Montreal Ketamine Therapy).  The CIM-KeT model is an NHS-adapted version of the developed by and colleagues at McGill University. It integrates ketamine administration with structured NHS Talking Therapies psychotherapy in order to enhance and prolong therapeutic outcomes. CIM-KeT is delivered by 51³Ô¹ÏÍø and CNWL psychiatrists/trainees together with therapists from CNWL’s Community Living Well Talking Therapies. The CIPPRes Clinic at St Charles will continue the translational programme, by 1) sharing knowledge from the first pilot and supporting other NHS Trusts in setting up this pilot model (see below about the new Consortium), and 2) continuing to test a range of adapted CIM-KeT models at St Charles - hereunder for more complex secondary-care populations and scalable group delivery.

The CONSORTIUM: The NHS CIPPRes Consortium

Directly building on work we do together with CNWL in the CIPPRes Clinic at St Charles, we have now established The NHS CIPPRes Consortium (The NHS Consortium for Interventional Psychiatry and Psychedelic Research). Currently involving 14+ NHS trusts and academic partners, the consortium will act as a clinical-academic hub for the translation of psychedelic research into NHS practice. The CIPPRes Clinic at St Charles will provide participating trusts with shared protocols, clinical staff training, cross-trust supervision structures, and general implementation support for local CIM-KeT pilots.  A central registry will capture treatment delivery, clinical outcomes, safety and health-economic data across sites, supporting evaluation of feasibility, effectiveness and cost-effectiveness and creating infrastructure adaptable to future psychedelic treatments in the NHS.

The CONFERENCE:

After years of brilliant work with the Oxford International Ketamine Conference, Prof. Rupert McShane has decided to passed the baton to his colleagues at 51³Ô¹ÏÍø College. The conference changes name to: The Conference for Interventional Psychiatry and Psychedelic Research, or “The CIPPRes Conference”. It will be hosted by 51³Ô¹ÏÍø’s David Erritzoe, and co-hosted by Profs Rupert McShane (Oxford University)  and Celia Morgan (Exeter University). The March 2027 meeting still takes place in Oxford in the same venue as the previous meetings. The conference will be held in partnership with .

The March 2027 edition will bring together leading researchers, clinicians and other experts to share and discuss the latest developments in ketamine and classic psychedelic therapies for mental health. It will take place at The Blavatnik School of Government, which offers state-of-the-art conferencing facilities and regularly hosts international symposia and events. 

We are excited to announce the theme for the March 2027 meeting: Ketamine and other psychedelics: from clinical status and mechanisms to mental healthcare implementation.