Joost Breeksem

Joost Breeksema is an interdisciplinary researcher whose work bridges the boundaries of psychiatry, psychology, philosophy, medical anthropology and public health. He earned an MA in philosophy before completing a PhD in medical sciences, investigating the lived experience of patients receiving psychedelic treatments for severe depression and PTSD. As a post‑doctoral researcher at the University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) he studies subjective experience and extra-pharmacological variables, while also coordinating INTEGRATE, a EU-funded network that will train 16 PhD candidates across Europe, spanning neuroscience, anthropology, psychiatry, law, pharmacology and ethics, exposing future psychedelic experts to research, policy, clinical practice, and nonprofit and industry perspectives.

In parallel, Breeksema serves as Executive Director of the OPEN Foundation, an independent knowledge organisation that has, since 2007, championed the safe, responsible integration of psychedelic therapy into mental‑health care. At OPEN, he curates Europe’s largest interdisciplinary conference on psychedelics (ICPR), has set up a rigorous 2-year therapist training (ADEPT), and steers policy dialogues that bring together patients, clinicians, researchers and regulators. His work exemplifies a trans‑disciplinary, ethically grounded approach that advances both scientific rigor and ethical practices in psychedelic medicine and beyond.