Psychology alum Candace Lewis to deliver Undergraduate Research and Discovery Symposium keynote address

The Undergraduate Research and Discovery Symposium keynote address will take place on Wednesday, April 19, from 7-9 p.m. in Arts 150. The event is sponsored by the University Honors College and the Department of Psychology.

Psychedelics as Therapeutics: An Old and New Story Join Dr. Candace Lewis as she discusses the ancient and modern use of psychedelic substances to facilitate healing. Recently, top research universities have published promising results demonstrating long-lasting antidepressant effects after therapy using psilocybin, the psychoactive component of "magic mushrooms."

Lewis will discuss her research at the University of Zurich exploring the effect of psilocybin on brain regions involved with depression and anxiety. She will also explore a novel model proposing how salient experiences may alleviate suffering through shaping our epigenome and subsequent physiology and behavior.

Biography Dr. Candace Lewis holds a joint postdoctoral fellowship appointment with Arizona State University's Department of Psychology and the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) Neurogenomics Division. She is combining state-of-the-art genetic research at TGen with an ASU-faculty-led twin study that aims to determine how both genetics and environment affect childhood health and cognitive outcomes.

Dr. Lewis completed her master's and doctoral degrees in behavioral neuroscience from Arizona State University and her bachelor's in psychology from the University of Alaska Anchorage. In 2015, she was awarded a Fulbright grant, and Science Foundation Arizona named her a Bisgrove Scholar. She is also the recipient of a 2008 Harry S. Truman Scholarship.

More Information

• Visit the Honors College Undergraduate Research and Discovery Symposium website to view the schedule.
• Lewis' visit also leads up to the Department of Psychology's Behavioral Sciences Conference of the North

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