Elise Weerts, PhD

Elise Weerts, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.  She is the Scientific Director of the preclinical Division of Behavioral Biology (DBB) and a founding member of the Johns Hopkins Center for Psychedelic and Consciousness Research (CPCR). She has over 25 years of experience in behavioral pharmacology and neuroscience research on alcohol, cannabis, nicotine, and opioids. A key focus of her translational research is medications development for substance use disorders and mental health disorders, and understanding the neurobiological mechanisms underlying these disorders. She collaborates with other CPCR investigators on studies examining the potential therapeutic effects of psilocybin for alcohol use disorder and other mental health disorders. Her clinical research experience ranges from laboratory studies through phase I-III clinical trials.