Sandeep Nayak

Sandeep Nayak, MD, is a physician‑scientist affiliated with Johns Hopkins whose research focuses on the clinical, cognitive and safety consequences of classic psychedelics in both naturalistic and research settings. He has led and co‑authored prospective longitudinal work examining how psilocybin experiences alter mind perception and related belief systems, and has contributed to multiple analyses that probe drug–drug interactions and adverse events (for example, attenuation of psilocybin effects associated with SSRI/SNRI exposure and seizure risk signals when classic psychedelics are co‑administered with lithium). His publications also include comparative investigations of psychedelic and non‑ordinary experiences (such as near‑death experiences) and analyses of single transformative psychedelic experiences and their effects on attribution of consciousness to living and non‑living entities.

Beyond substantive clinical studies, Nayak has emphasised methodological rigour in psychedelic science — advocating for improved adverse‑event surveillance, reducing reporting bias and applying Bayesian approaches to trial design and analysis. He collaborates with neuroimaging groups and multidisciplinary teams to link phenomenology, safety, and neural measures, aiming to translate observational and experimental findings into safer, better‑characterised interventions for psychiatric care.