Psilocybin-Assisted Early Palliative Care: A Pilot Study

Dr. Ali John Zarrabi is the Principal Investigator on a clinical trial establishing the safety and feasibility of psilocybin-assisted therapy combined with comprehensive palliative care support in demoralized cancer patients. He received his Bachelor of Arts from Brown University, Doctor of Medicine from The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Internal Medicine Residency and Palliative Medicine Fellowship at the Icahn School of Medicine atMount Sinai and Sarnoff Research Fellowship at Harvard University. He currently is an Assistant Professor of Medicine and Associate Director for Outpatient Supportive Care within the Division of Palliative Medicine at Emory University School of Medicine. His research addresses identifying biopsychosocial needs among the seriously ill; crafting aesthetic, spiritual, and meaning-centered interventions; developing best practices for arts-based education in the health professions; and studying the role of emerging therapeutics to treat complex suffering such as cannabinoids, ketamine, and classic psychedelics.

Dr. Zarrabi will present the rationale and preliminary results from a clinical trial at Emory University studying psilocybin-assisted therapy for pain and demoralization in people living with cancer.