I investigate how intelligent systems construct, maintain and transform representations of themselves, other agents and the world. My research seeks general principles that explain these relationships across brains, minds and artificial systems. I combine neuroscience, psychology and computational theory to develop testable frameworks for understanding conscious experience, social cognition and adaptive behaviour. My current work uses neuroimaging, computational modelling and machine learning, but the longer-term goal is to identify unifying principles that connect insights across disciplines.
I am also a systems theorist curious to explore life, the universe and everything, with intellectual roots grounded in psychology, philosophy and physics:
The boundaries we draw between self and other, mind and world, are the fossilised pathways of functional necessity. Neuroscience increasingly reveals that what we experience as external arises from a unified modelling process.
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Latest Projects
PsiConnect Study
- Australia’s first psychedelic imaging trial; psilocybin × connectivity × context.
- World’s largest by sample (N≈65): baseline + 19 mg psilocybin; MRI & EEG; longitudinal behaviour.
- Role: Scientific Lead; protocol design, implementation, participant guidance, and analysis.
- Status: complete; Flagship manuscript: Psychedelics Align Brain Activity with Context
Keio University Psilocybin Trial
- Advisor on Japan’s first serotonergic psychedelic clinical trial for TRD.
- Evaluation of psilocybin safety and efficacy (10 mg & 25 mg).
- Role: Psychedelic Scientific Advisor; curated therapeutic music; advisory input on mindset and contextual design.
- Status: implementation phase.
Psilocybin for Opioid Use Trial
- Wellcome Leap UA clinical therapy trial; comparator design (low vs high dose).
- Role: Lead Psychedelic Scientific Advisor; trial design and neuroimaging analysis.
- Status: planning and recruitment phase.
Addiction Neurocircuitry Targets
- Wellcome Leap UA machine-learning informed fMRI–TMS study for alcohol use.
- Translational focus on addiction neurocircuitry targets.
- Role: Neuroimaging Specialist; implementation and analysis.
- Status: implementation phase.
Psilocybin for Food Reward and Preference
- Imaging pilot study of food reward processing under psilocybin.
- Role: Lead Psychedelic Scientific Advisor; planning and design.
- Status: design & recruitment.
Research value & scope
I build meaning into trial design, identify it in data, and bridge the connections between Brain, Mind and Mental Health.
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