First Psilocybin/SCI Study (Episode 147)

Guests: Devon Colbert & Jill Wecht

Today's episode features Dr. Jill Wecht who is a Research Health Scientist at the Bronx VA and Devon Colbert, a retired firefighter and Navy Veteran who lives with a cervical spinal cord injury (SCI) and is an advocate/participant in SCI research. A while back, Devon proposed the idea for a clinical trial using psilocybin to Dr. Wecht and her colleague Dr. Noam Harel at the Bronx VA. 

When we heard that they were moving forward with potentially the first psilocybin trial in spinal cord injury (a safety trial), we reached out to schedule this interview. They are curious about the effect of psilocybin on mental health, but will also be collecting information about its effect on other functions. The hope is that it might have pro-regenerative effects that can warrant further investigation. 

We talk with them about the trial and the potential that psilocybin might hold as a treatment, both on its own and in combination with other interventions going forward. We learned a lot from the conversation and are excited to share it with you. 

Listen on: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Soundcloud

Bumper music: Dig a Hole by Freaque

Guest Bio

Dr. Jill Wecht is a Research Health Scientist at the James J Peters VA Medical Center and is a Professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Medicine and Human Performance at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Her research focus involves gaining insight into associations between autonomic nervous system dysfunction and control of the cardiovascular and cerebrovascular systems and determining the impact of altered systemic and cerebral hemodynamics on cognitive function, mood, and quality of life following SCI. In this project, Dr. Wecht is funded by the Department of Defense to study the effects of psilocybin on important outcomes in people with SCI including the severity and frequency of depressive symptoms reporting, pain intensity, mood, and quality of life. Details of this project can be found under the project identifier NCT07251491 at the following website https://clinicaltrials.gov/.

Connect with Dr. Jill Wecht:

Devon Colbert is a medically retired Garland firefighter and Navy Veteran. In December 2012, he experienced a motor vehicle accident that resulted in a spinal cord injury (SCI) at C4-5 level.  While he has regained movement of his arms and hands, Devon has little to no use of his fingers.  

Together with his wife, Devon has been actively involved as an SCI advocate in a variety of areas that have served to increase visibility of those with a SCI or other disability and have made major contributions to their community. He has a passion for research in the management of chronic neuropathic pain.

  • In 2014, Devon and his wife founded a non-profit organization, “The Colbert Project”. Their nonprofit was able to gift over $250,000 to firefighters and their families who were facing financial hardships due to an off-duty injury or illness. This was a volunteer-only organization funded by an annual fundraiser event, which hosted 750 guests. Covid and family responsibilities forced them to pause the organization, unfortunately. 
     
  • Devon has been a guest on the Live to Walk podcast and the Mind Body Mushroom podcast over the years. The Live to Walk podcast addressed Devon’s interest in psilocybin and chondroitinase ABC, which he has studied since 2020. Devon was invited by Dr. David McMillan, Research Assistant Professor, Neurological Surgery Director of Education and Outreach, The Miami Project, for an open discussion about his studies and personal experiences with psilocybin. Devon has connected with doctors and research facilities across the country in an attempt to establish a trial testing the impacts of combining micro-dosed psilocybin as a serotonin agonist in conjunction with the CSPG degrading enzyme, Chondroitinase ABC.
     
  • In 2022, Devon was a volunteer for a published case study conducted by researchers at UC San Diego regarding microdosing of psiolocybin for neuropathic pain. DOI: 10.1097/j.pain.0000000000002778
     
  • From 2023-2024, upon the invitation of Dr. Noble-Haeusslein, Devon attended the National Neurotrauma Meeting in Austin. His quiet presence provided visibility to attendees, most of whom were academic research scientists. He has since had a discussion with Dr. Noble Haeusslein regarding early struggles that he had with bladder dysfunction, including bladder infections and the impact that this had on his family. 

Impact on Researchers:
Devon has brought greater awareness to researchers regarding the challenges imposed by neuropathic pain and bladder dysfunction.  From the standpoint of the former, he is a staunch supporter of the psychedelic, psilocybin, in the management of neuropathic pain post-SCI. This position is based, in part, upon reading peer reviewed publications that have championed this direction. It is noteworthy that this interest is similarly shared by a number of academic institutions that now have research centers devoted to the study of psychedelics including Johns Hopkins, University of California at San Francisco, and the Dell Medical School, University of Texas. Peer reviewed publications have become a critical resource for this line of research. (See Review, “Beating pain with psychedelics: Matter over mind?)

Devon is currently a consultant and collaborates with researchers at James J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center, East Texas A&M University, and the University of Texas. He is also a Consumer Reviewer and Advocate for the CDMRP. He has contributed to a round table discussion about psilocybin and SCI at the University of Wisconsin and was instrumental in the development of a material trade agreement between Molly Shoichet, University of Toronto, and Martin Marsala, UC San Diego. 

Devon is also an advocate for the use of natural psychedelics for Veterans and first responders seeking treatment for PTS and job-related trauma and anxiety. He spends his free time helping homeschool their two sons and reading peer-reviewed publications and other medical texts. Devon maintains an active outreach on social media, connecting with researchers and others who may be suffering from a disability.

Connect with Devon Colbert:

 

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