Stephanie Karzon Abrams is a clinical neuropharmacologist with extensive research experience in hospital settings. In 2022, she pivoted her career and launched Beyond the Bench, a science and operations consultancy aimed at advising psychedelic practitioners, organizations, and plant-medicine product manufacturers.
She recently shared her experience advising on the launch of a new, full-service integrative medicine and mental health clinic in Los Angeles, designing novel studies on microdosing and functional plant supplements, and helping companies use this kind of research to build up their businesses.
How did your career transition from clinical and medical-device research into psychedelics consulting?
In my early research career, I specialized in neurology and intensive care. I focused on traumatic brain injuries, on treatment protocols, and research, specifically at hospital ICUs. Then I moved on to Biosense Webster, which is a medical device division of Johnson & Johnson, and worked closely with physicians in cardiology, supporting procedures and developing their practices. I learned how to engage physicians and anticipate what they needed to grow their practices, which led me to a role that we called Therapy Awareness, in which we strategize to educate both patients and other providers about a therapy, create more efficient workflows, and ultimately grow reach and caseload.
After doing this for about 6 years, and having my own personal experiences with psychedelics that were very mind-opening, I decided I wanted to get back into neuro- pharm and contribute to the advancement of psychedelics as therapies. So I looked for a research role and found a great opportunity with the Neurology Center of Toronto, where I started looking at intersections of neurology and psychedelics, specifically how psychedelic therapies could help people who suffer from headaches, concussions, traumatic brain injuries, and spinal cord injuries.
I also joined the Microdosing Collective where my research partner served as medical advisor, and I became the scientific advisor, guiding research efforts. I continued to search for ways I could support and contribute to the field and doors began to open. In tandem, I started an educational and experiential dinner series with a friend called, “Mt Mushmore, Higher Elevations.” With the aim of bringing people together to learn and connect over all kinds of mushrooms — functional, culinary, and psychedelic — we attracted all kinds of community members, from the curious to those dedicating their lives to fungi. Before I knew it, I was advising a variety of psychedelic and plant initiatives as a consultant. So I decided to commit to this work and launched Beyond the Bench as my own consultancy.
What kind of clients are you working with?
I work with such a variety of clients, from psychedelic initiatives and nonprofits, to plant medicine brands, to more clinical work involving treatment and tapering protocols.
For the last 8 or 9 months, I’ve been heavily focused on a particular project to launch an integrative medicine center in Los Angeles that will offer multiple services, including ketamine-assisted therapy. It’s called Modern Medicine Services. The team includes a psychiatrist, integrative medicine specialists, a clinical psychologist, nurses, registered dietitians, and acupuncturists, which will allow us to offer more services to support a client’s journey to healing.
Though mental health is at the core, individuals very often have other comorbidities or diagnoses such as neurological issues, terminal illness, substance-use issues, chronic pain, etc. Our goal is to create treatment protocols that address the whole person. I’ve consulted for other clinics, and what I’ve noticed is that this approach is so helpful for clients and patients — and it’s also a great business approach. Offering different services brings multiple streams of revenue. There’s also an opportunity to develop programs like research and to provide peer-to-peer education and training. I’m very excited for what we’ve created and look forward to seeing its impact and evolution.
Beyond medical practitioners and clinics, you also consult for companies working with functional supplements, correct?
Yes. Another one of my clients is a plant-medicine manufacturer. They are interested in demonstrating the efficacy and safety of their functional-plant supplement, and they’re in a market that’s saturated with other products. So we created a research study that would help differentiate their product and build trust with their consumers. The study looks at well-being and quality of life before and after a small cohort of individuals have used the product. We’re using validated questionnaires, scales, and measurement tools. It satisfies HIPAA compliance, is anonymous, and is designed to draw robust data and conclusions. I think it will produce very valuable data, and will also open doors to many more projects. It’s a great tool, and although it doesn’t seem like marketing, it definitely falls within marketing. Great research data usually means great marketing material you can use to build trust with consumers and stand apart.
There’s certainly a shortage of peer-reviewed research being done with functional plant supplements. How long does it take to conduct a trial like that, from start to finish?
This particular project was an easier lift as it was designed as an observational questionnaire. The planning took about a month, and then the research will run for 1 to 2 months. Then we’ll get all the data analyzed. I think you’re looking at 3-4 months total to turn a project like this one around and have a paper written and ready to publish. In some instances you can take planning steps to have it published in a peer review journal, or you can simply write a paper to publish on your website, in a newsletter, or other marketing and news outlets. Peer review journal publications require a little more planning, work, and budget. However, it is a lot more accessible than people think, and there are certainly ways to do it cost-effectively.
Any other current projects you’re excited about?
As I mentioned earlier, I’m very happy to be working with the Microdosing Collective as their scientific advisor. I designed a research study where we’re looking at chronic headaches, which is 15 or more headaches per month for at least three months. We chose chronic headaches because it’s very measurable, and the research on microdosing is variable as it can be hard to qualify one’s experience with microdosing. It’s not like a macrodose experience where your experience is felt undeniably and can be described vividly.
With a microdose, it’s a sub-perceptual experience. After a couple days you might feel a little more sensitive, a little more focused, a little more creative. But it’s hard to put a finger on it like you can with macrodosing. So we chose chronic headaches because it’s measurable. Are you now having less than 15 headaches per month? We ask people to qualify their headaches types, answer questions about their medical history, lifestyle, and habits. We also evaluate if their quality of life has improved since using certain psychedelics and other things that can directly quantify the impact of microdosing. Ultimately we are looking to see if psychedelics, specifically psilocybin or LSD, reduced the number of headaches.
There’s actually a lot of promise for psilocybin as a treatment for cluster headaches. In Canada they just approved the first cluster headache case for psilocybin-assisted therapy as a part of their Special Access Program, which is fantastic! As a Canadian, I like to contribute to advancements in Canada as well, and joined the Canadian nonprofit TheraPsil, which offers really great training and education for providers, and I completed their prescriber certification. So I can now help certain individuals gain access to psilocybin by working with their clinical team and appealing to Health Canada on their behalf. We essentially write up the case and describe why this person should access psilocybin therapy. It’s a really needed program, because as the treatments prove effective, they’re not only going to build up the research data, but they’ll also be able to expand into various other medical conditions and ultimately become more inclusive.
I’ve also become very passionate about educational speaking engagements and leading workshops, as well as recently began writing for Psychedelics.com.
As microdosing becomes more popular — thanks both to general awareness and also growing decriminalization of psilocybin — are you concerned about any negative impacts it could have on people?
Well, we definitely need more education out there about plant medicines. We also need more harm reduction efforts because people will continue to access psilocybin and products underground regardless of the law. So let’s just try to keep people safe. I’d love to see a program where people can microdose, safely! I’d love to see some piece of legislation passed that will permit microdosing and provide education, resources, and support while accessing a safe and reliable supply of psilocybin. This is definitely a movement that’s taking over and gaining in popularity. We need to do what we can to ensure safe outcomes. This is one of the top priorities of the Microdosing Collective, and we’ve even had a Lobby Day earlier this year, and have since hit the ground running to make this happen! I will continue to create studies sponsored by the Collective that can help support this mission.
I have so much respect for the underground. I work in the above-ground medical/scientific field, but my mission is to bridge the science with the spirit. The medical model is important, but so are the spiritual aspects of psychedelics, the mysticism, the traditional practices, the ancient wisdom. We need to show utmost respect for this. I’m hoping there will be a way for people in the underground to continue doing their work and not be scared of backlash for doing it. As the medical-use model evolves, the underground shouldn’t be phased out or left out. They have so much knowledge from their long standing practices. Whatever comes next in terms of policy, I hope it is fair to all practitioners and stewards of these medicines and keeps people as safe as possible.
(Photo: Nick White)
