Professor Celia Morgan

About me:

I co-founded the Exeter Psychedelics Interdisciplinary Centre (EPIC), where I lead the clinical applications strand of our research programme. My work centres on a deceptively simple question: why does the same drug produce such different outcomes depending on context? Ketamine, for instance, can be addictive in one setting and profoundly therapeutic in another — and understanding that distinction has real implications for how we design and deliver treatments.

My research spans two interconnected areas: the psychology of addiction, particularly how relationships with substances become overvalued and entrenched, and the clinical application of psychedelic drugs alongside psychological therapies. This includes leading large-scale clinical trials of ketamine-assisted therapy. Across behavioural studies, neuroimaging, and trials, I'm working to build a richer, more nuanced account of how substances affect us — one that resists the temptation to reduce complex phenomena to simple mechanisms.

Psychedelics, in particular, challenge us to question our scientific methods, our clinical frameworks, and our assumptions about psychopharmacology. Part of that challenge is recognising that Western research does not have a monopoly on this knowledge. My programme is committed to engaging with cultures and traditions that have long worked with altered states of consciousness, and to doing so with genuine humility.

Research Keywords:

• Psychopharmacology
• Addiction
• Treatment
• Psychedelics
• Clinical Trials
• Ketamine

Interests:

My research examines both the benefits and side effects of illicit drugs and how this can be context dependent.  How can our understanding on multiple levels: neurobiological, behavioural and social contribute to broader understanding of substances and there potential for healing.  I am interested in how childhood adversity and deprivation contribute to addiction and mental health and whether treatments can modulate these processes. I use a range of techniques from experience sampling and qualitative interviews to cognitive testing and functional and structural neuroimaging (DTI and VBM). We also run clinical trials of illict drugs combined with psychological therapies in the treatment of addiction.

Qualifications:

PhD

BSc

Dip SciComm

Career:

I completed my undergraduate degree and Ph.D at UCL, after a short time Yale University on a scholarship programme, I returned to UCL for a post-doc. Following this I worked at University of Melbourne as a visiting research fellow and returned to UCL for a fellowship and then Lectureship. I  was given a Chair in Psychopharmacology at University of Exeter in 2015. I currently hold an Honorary Readership at University College London.